Game Face: What Does a Female Athlete Look Like

On playing fields and street corners, in backyards and gyms, the people in this arresting array of pictures are unselfconsciously exploring the physical and emotional pleasures of competition and play. Each image offers an affirming and satisfying answer to the question at the heart of Game Face: What do girls and women look like when freed from traditional feminine constraints, using their bodies in joyful and empowering ways?

To show America what women’s sports looks like, Jane Gottesman searched through the work of our country’s best photographers, from the newest photojournalists to artists such as Annie Leibovitz and Ansel Adams. The result is a unique and inspiring document of the tremendous impact that the growth of female sports at all levels is having on society—and on women themselves.

Jane Gottesman, Game Face project director and co-curator, was a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, a contributing writer to Women's Sports & Fitness magazine, a writer and associate producer for ABC Sports, and co-editor of the book Play Like a Girl. She lives in Berkeley, California, and New York City.

The Game Face Collection was co-curated by Geoffrey Biddle, a photographer, educator, and author of the book Alphabet City.


From the Hardcover edition.