'Young Athletes' by Gabriella Sancisi

About

I began making portraits in the early nineties when I photographed my family who are stonemasons. Each covered in a fine layer of white dust, I posed them as though they were Roman marble busts. This was the beginning of a self-made project depicting people working in a very physical way, marked in some way by the activity that they do. The announcement to host the 2012 Olympic Games in London was greeted with excitement and hope by many people in the UK and this presented me with a unique opportunity to reflect this sense of optimism. I have photographed professional athletes, young people involved in sports in schools in the Olympic Boroughs and teenagers who play sport in clubs throughout London. It is the portraits of London teenagers (boxers, synchronized swimmers, fencers and American footballers) that are being shown in The Atrium.