FOR THE OCCASION OF THIS SUPERBOWL SUNDAY 2012, I have to ask this question: was there anything more hilarious than this style of “run and leap” sports photography? You know the kind. They were in every high school yearbook in the 1950s. Somebody did it first—and every yearbook photographer since followed suit. The football players did it especially, the running leap, fore arm out. But the cheerleaders? With leaps like these, it’s a wonder they didn’t fall and break something. I am not sure when the crazy leaps went out of fashion, but it’s a good thing.
An AM reprint from 6/6/09.
8 comments:
The last one works.
I always hated the cheerleaders in High School anyway and secretly hoped that they broke something.
I love the little bits of masking tape on the corners and smeared rubber stamp.
Hey Rick-I agree,looks like the rubber stamp was hand made, it is so irregular and crude. Maybe from one of those big square erasers.
Actually, I like these old fashioned photos because they illustrate that cheerleaders were athletes. As such, the activity was regarded as sport. Today it has evolved into a form of eye candy so that the critics and courts feel it should not be classified as sport for Title IX. Because of that schools needlessly spend resources on unpopular activities while taking away funding from popular programs. The result is that we have women's soccer and basketball or other programs where they play in front of empty seats.
Therefore, I say let's make cheer leading like it used to be, classify it as sport, and we will be able to have popular sports programming that benefits everyone.
I have to admit, reluctantly, that these sort of turn me on.
Don't forget Philippe Halsman, grand master of jump photography!
These crack me up!
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