YakimaHeraldPhotos.com

Seeing two sides

I just finished – and had published online and in print – a photo project documenting the first season of the Yakima Valley Community College women’s wrestling team. To see the audio slideshows (nine of ‘em!) go here.

As with any long-term project I was really (a) glad it was done (b) sad it was done (c) tired of looking at the same images over and over as I edited the thousands of images (d) disappointed at some of the gaps in the images (e) happy that my employer still sees the value of such projects and allows us to pursue long-term projects and (d) feeling privileged to have met such a hard-working, dedicated group of women.

There were lots of memorable times and images for me as I followed the team from September, 2008 through Mar, 2009 but one image stands out, an image that wasn’t even published (until now). It’s an image that didn’t contribute to the storytelling of this team’s first season and really a pretty ordinary photograph. But the contrast presented by the image is, to me, amazing.

Throughout the season, this is how I saw the team:

 

This is how I saw the team throughout the season, clad in t-shirts, shorts, maybe sweats and wrestling singlets. Here, the team is introduced at a Feb. 5, 2009 wrestling match.

 

But at an end-of-the-season get-together, the team showed me a side I hadn’t seen before.

 

The YVCC women's wrestling team poses for a group photo before going out to a local restaurant for supper at an end-of-the-season get-together.

 

The contrast was amazing and I was glad I could see ‘em all dressed up.

By the way, this was the first year for the team, the first-ever women’s intercollegiate wrestling team in Washington state. The team started with three wrestlers and picked up a few more wrestlers (and lost a few) throughout the season and went on to win the national women’s collegiate wrestling title.

–Gordon King