Fighting Back the Years
NICK PELLING explores a brilliant new photographic project
The world of boxing seems contradictory: brutish yet alive with the metaphorical possibilities of all human struggle. For this reason, perhaps, it has always attracted writers and artists – think Mailer’s The Fight or Scorsese’s Raging Bull. Some might say that this poetic aspect is all very odd, given that at a basic level, it is about two human animals each trying to beat the other into submission. The renowned photographer and Hastings resident, John Cole, wants to bring us his unique take on this paradoxical realm.
Gleason’s Gym
STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL
Cole is in the process of producing a book of photographs, Shadow Boxers, from his time in and around the New York club boxing scene in the 1970s. It is a world that no longer exists: a grimy, muscular world of contenders and bloodied nearly men; a strangely beautiful theatre of desperate people fighting opponents both real and psychological.
John explained that he went to New York in 1975 to take up a position as a writer on Newsweek but, as a lover of photography, had been inexorably drawn to local boxing clubs, such as Gleason’s in midtown Manhattan. “It was like entering a black and white movie, a world of real Rockys.” After his immersion in that milieu, he admits that he became “a boxing obsessive” and felt impelled to record it all in that most direct and emotionally intravenous art form that is black and white photography.
John is seeking to raise funds for this project via a Kickstarter campaign. This is not easy. High quality black and white photography in a beautifully designed book is an extremely expensive business.
FIGHTING FOR FIGHTERS
His motivation is not just about the photography itself. He is hoping to donate a portion of the profits to two appropriate causes. First, to the Ringside Charitable Trust, a body that looks after ex-fighters. John points out that there is almost nothing to support old fighters, many of whom suffer physically from the toll of boxing. But he also wants to give funds to the local West Hill Boxing Club: “boxing gives young people confidence and a way of controlling their emotional aggression.”
There is, of course, quite a debate today about so-called ‘toxic masculinity’ and it is tempting to argue that boxing is one of the ways that testosterone can be channelled. But this is simplistic. It misses the point that women’s boxing is one of the fastest-growing sports in Britain. The truth is, as John argues, boxing is good for all young people because it develops in them two vital qualities; self-confidence and self-discipline.
THE FIFTEENTH ROUND
Like all artists, John is also motivated by a desire to put his creative work out there. As he puts it, rather beautifully, “It is very important to me to see this body of work published before I reach my fifteenth round.” If you would like to help John see this work come to life, please go to the Kickstarter address below to make a pledge.
Kickstarter.com/projects/shadowboxers/shadow-boxers
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