warning: being a French publication, the content of the issues has no limits and does not recognize any taboos. “The only thing that matters are the aesthetics whether it is in the beauty or in the ugliness.”
The rowing photo essay borrows from the German rowing retailer New Wave’s clothing line ‘Rowing Nothing Else.’ The images share a vivid sense of the feeling of the dedication and gritty reality of rowing. Any rower looking at the images will instantly relate to the feeling of camaraderie and closeness that rowers feel, in an almost remote and unknown connection from the perspective of an outsider.
If you’re looking for lots of skin, massive muscle, and revealing shots of junk, you won’t find it here. Rather, the essay gives a peek behind the curtains of the reality of rowers, http://www.glrf.info/gotchagallery/data/media/302/Rowing02_Photo_Eric_Lanuit.jpg their body language, and their often scruffed appearance and their focus on rowing while not preening and posing for the camera.
The title of the essay is perfectly chosen and the images depicted are just that. The images were shot over the course of one day on Sunday, 15 May 2011 at the Régates de Masse (Masses Regatta) in Mantes-la-Jolie (approx. 34 miles or 55 km west of Paris), at the Stade nautique international Didier-Simond de Mantes en Yvelines.
The rowers featured in the photo shoot vary in age: some are juniors, some are university, and some are senior rowers from a number of teams and clearly more than one country! French photographers have the luxury of being free of the American legal system and can more freely capture their subjects without fear of liability or retribution. They don’t have to get signed waivers …
Rowing Nothing Else appears in the 4th online issue of Character, issue 2, Fall 2011, Volume 2. To find the photo essay, you need to jump to page 60 (look for the 4th bar at the bottom of the flash player). If you prefer, you can page through from the beginning but you'll have to thumb through the essay of drawings on Bambi and The Bears ... (again, read the warning above).
For those who are not fluent in french, the text of page 63 reads: (and if our translation is lacking, then please help us refine it for other viewers!!!)
For those reading page 61, and who are unfamiliar with the Tour de Leman, it is a 160 km rowing endurance race that circles Lac Leman, otherwise known as Lake Geneva. The annual race is held at the end of September and can last up to 17 hours, depending on the weather. The best time recorded is 11hours:55minutes:19seconds.
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