Gleason's Gym
Brooklyn
April 1989
Essay of the Day
Essay of the Day features selected essays from my separate, non-public online journals.
This essay was originally published in Urban Journal; the black and white images also appear in Moments.
Boxers
Boxing has never had much appeal to me. Sure, as a male I understand its appeal to other males, especially testosterone driven young males. Like all of the best sports, it involves strategy and skill. But if you have neither, you may still win by brute force. The psychological reward is powerful. Who doesn't want to totally triumph over someone else in any confrontation? Still, the point is to hurt an opponent so intensely that he cannot go on and must quit entirely. Few sports have physical destruction as the only goal.
Boxing is also a sport with big money, famous celebrities and historic fights in large arenas. It is a way for young men who have few other skills to become household names and enter a realm of lavish wealth. So it is very much a draw for those reasons as well. But I was never interested in watching boxing on television or as part of a live audience. I would rather actively engage in my own favorite sports (running, swimming, cycling, etc.). Generally I was a doer more than an observer. I didn't follow boxing although I knew what was occurring with the most well known boxers because of the media.
However, I became more interested in any sport when I was photographing it. In April of 1989, I gave myself a remarkable assignment, with no clients in mind and no payment for my work. I decided to buy a ticket to Gleason's Gym, a place filled with boxing history.
(continued)
Gleason's is located on the Brooklyn waterfront. Since 1937, when the gym was founded in the Bronx, boxers with their eyes on Olympic glory or a shot at the title have been coming to Gleason's. Fighters who trained at the gym include Jake LaMotta, Roberto Durán, Gerry Cooney and Mike Tyson. Before his first title fight against Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, also trained at Gleason's. The gym is reminiscent of the time when New York was the center of the boxing universe, when there were dozens of serious gyms in the city and when big fights were often held in Madison Square Garden. I already knew a little about Gleason's before I went there with my camera.
(continued)
My decision to go to the gym was not about who was going to be fighting. The building and gym were kind of small in size and on the day I went there, the fights were at the bottom of the professional level, very minor with no news coverage whatsoever. The fighters were young urban boxers who were working their way up.
Instead, I just wanted to see if I could come away with some interesting photos. I planned to be unobtrusive since I didn't even know if I would be allowed to take pictures. I decided to deal with the existing light and I didn't bring any flash equipment (which I didn't like anyway). I hoped the lighting in the gym would be enough.
Instead, I just wanted to see if I could come away with some interesting photos. I planned to be unobtrusive since I didn't even know if I would be allowed to take pictures. I decided to deal with the existing light and I didn't bring any flash equipment (which I didn't like anyway). I hoped the lighting in the gym would be enough.
When I got there, I could immediately see there was a problem. The lighting was terrible, too low and insufficient for the shutter speeds I would need to freeze action without increasing grain, losing detail and making the capture of action difficult. There was nothing I could do about it.
I used black and white and color transparency film. I shot frames as quietly as I could, not getting in the way or making myself too conspicuous. I stayed for a few fights and checked out the members of the audience, almost all male, who were really into the action. Some of them were friends and family members of the fighters.
(continued)
When I got the film developed and saw the images, I realized that the slow shutter speeds gave the photos, especially those in color, a moody feel, surrealistic feel at times when the punches and swings blurred in the frame. I ended up liking the photographs anyway.
It became a memorable day, when I saw a sport that I had never really been exposed to so closely.
