Brian Finke | 2-4-6-8: American Cheerleaders and Football Players

Over the past several years artist, Brian Finke, has traveled across the country photographing high school and college level cheerleaders and football players. Mixing artificial and natural light, Finke has developed his own distinctive documentary style. Finke’s work functions on a number of levels. In one sense, these are highly ambivalent images, revealing diversity in uniformity, as manifested by the construction of individual identities in the image of the team. Addressing social behaviors, self-definition, and sexuality, the artist documents the rocky trail of adolescence. However, in conveying such, Finke is a master of imbuing his photographs with humor and life. He avoids casting a judgmental eye, choosing rather lighthearted stories told with respect and hilarity.