sample selection from ‘Rikishi’ series – © charles freger

Last week I had a hard time searching for useable images of athletes, sports photography being a category I am not well versed in. This got me thinking. I realized I hardly know any contemporary photographers (other than journalists) in whose work sports featured as a subject or theme. The only one that came to mind in the end was Charles Freger, founding father of the POCPROJECT.

I guess one could say Freger likes to collect typologies of people-in-function, whether it be in professions, vocational training or sports. Freger proves that the concept behind August Sander’s project can still be applied succesfully today.

selection of the 2NELSON series – © Charles Freger

For me the presentation on Freger’s website works quite well. After selecting a project in the drop down menu you get to see a page with thumbnails of the entire series. Each photograph can be clicked on to view individual enlargements which open in a new window. This allows you to alternate between viewing the uniformity of the group, in which individual differences seem to disappear behind the uniform, and viewing the individuals who make up this group, as the single personalities that they are.

The strength of his work is that Freger succeeds in showing us both at the same time: the group and its members, without sacrificing one over the other. This is why I hope the gallery in Amsterdam where a selection of his work is currently on show, has had the sense to exhibit a large enough series for the visitors to experience this selfsame quality. For, personally, I don’t think I could quite appreciate his work as much as I do if there were to be only four or five photos on display.

N.B. If you want to do more than just look, there are some texts available under ‘biography’.