The Captains is a series of ninety black-and-white portraits of twelve captains and leaders from each NRLW club. Commissioned by Harvey Norman in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, the work marks twenty years of Women in League and records a generation of players who have changed the place of women within rugby league.
Moving away from the action photography of sports media, the players were photographed in the studio on a simple plinth. Drawing on the visual language of classical sculpture, the portraits give form to the discipline, physical strength and presence of each sitter. Additionally, each was invited to bring objects connected to her experience of the game. Jerseys, boots, awards, letters and other personal items entered the exchange between player, pose and camera.
Presented across nine screens, the work moves between individual and collective portraits. Faces, hands and bodies appear, disappear and gather into a larger image of women’s leadership. The stillness of the studio allows another account of the athlete to emerge, shaped through conversation, improvisation and the shared performance of making a portrait.
The following images present a small glimpse into the work.
