Boxing - Hardcover

Fox, James A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1584791330 ISBN 13: 9781584791331

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2001

Synopsis

After 26 years of photographing world-class boxers inside and out of the ring, James A. Fox has experienced every angle of this harsh but exhilarating cosmos, and in Boxing, he gives us the opportunity to witness the sport through his insider's eyes. In 180 powerful black-and-white photographs accompanied by brief personal essays, Fox explores the emotional highs and lows of this popular sport. Featured are images of the drudgery of training, the exhilaration of the fight, and the inevitable victory or defeat. Among them are portraits of many of boxing's all-time greats: Muhammad Ali, Carlos Monzon, Roberto Duran, Ken Norton, and Rodrigo Valdes, among others. A selection of nude portraits of the athletes and close-ups of their faces, fists, and physiques celebrate the aesthetics of this intense sport. This beautifully produced volume will be admired by every boxer and boxing spectator and anyone with a love for fine photography.

About this title

About the Author

JAMES A. FOX is a Paris-based photo editor, preservationist, and photographer who has documented the boxing world for more than 25 years. The former editor-in-chief of the Magnum Agency, a prestigious international photo agency, he has published his work in Vanity Fair, Esquire, and Vogue Hommes, among other magazines, and exhibited it in New York, Los Angeles, and throughout Europe.

Reviews

*Starred Review* Rarely does boxing emerge from its noir shadows into the neon splendor of pay-per-view championship bouts. Boxers train and essentially live in gray, poorly lit cinderblock gyms, where they hone their skills in nondescript gray sweat gear. Fox, who for years was a photo editor with the Magnum photo agency, got his start in boxing photography almost by accident, when a fight provided a venue to try out a new camera. Something clicked in addition to the camera; these beautifully presented black-and-white photos, the highlights of a 25-year career as a boxing photographer, reveal the multiple shades of gray in the fighter's world. The 180 photos are divided into five sections: "The Making of a Prizefighter," "Training," "Before the Fight," "The Fight," and "After the Fight." Throughout, Fox's images capture not only the look of the boxing world but also its emotional reality. The viewer is struck by the similarity between fighters at all levels; the winner of the championship fight is no more ecstatic than the victor of the lowliest club bout, and the pain evident on the defeated fighters' faces is equally universal. In addition to the photos, an introduction by the photographer and an essay on French fighter Joel Bonnetaz, who danced at the edges of the big time, are appended. A beautiful, timeless work that functions both as a study of boxing and a testament to the art of black-and-white photography. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1584791330
• ISBN 13: 9781584791331
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200