Richman, Brad

Taking the typical zoom-in, rapid-fire sports photograph has never been my intent. Instead, I approach basketball in the same manner I do street photography. Yes, fleeting moments must be stopped in a split-second of time. But taking precedence over the slam-dunk, buzzer beating shot and no-look pass are the subtler moments of action: the force of people pressing against each other; the darting moves to the basket, bodies suspended in mid-air; the anticipation, looking skyward, waiting for the rebound. – Brad Richman

Nicknamed “The White Shadow,” Brad Richman was the only white player on his middle-school basketball team. As time progressed, however, he moved away from playing basketball and instead began to photograph the sport. His black-and-white images, taken at out-of-the-way locations around the country, capture this uniquely American sport. Exploring the drive, dedication, and love of the game exhibited by amateur players, Richman’s photographs touch upon the roles the sport plays in our society, but more directly deal with the physical movement on the court: the grace and fluidity of its players, its affinity to dance. Unlike most sports pictures, the large-format negatives produced from Richman’s view camera hold the fine details in these moments, rendering forms and expressions with clarity and composure.

Richman attended Bard College in New York (BA, 1993). His photographs have been shown in exhibitions at institutions both athletic and artistic in nature, including The Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA; The New England Sports Museum, Hingham, MA; and The MCI Sports Center in Washington, D.C. In addition, his works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Columbus Museum of Art; and the Library of Congress, Washington DC.