The Altis series didn’t start off as “The Altis.” It actually started as an ode to a dear friend of mine, a woman that I grew up with in South Carolina. We’ve known each other since we were 4 years old. I essentially wanted to create a body of work to be an ode to our friendship that would include an in-depth exploration of portraits and nudes. The problem was that she didn’t live in New York and was only in the city maybe twice a year, so the project wasn’t going anywhere. This was 1994. When Karen looked at the images that we had done, she commented that the work had an Olympian feeling, perhaps there’s more to this series than just your friend.
Ding! The light bulb turned on, and I started doing research on the ancient Olympic games, and in particular, women’s role in ancient sport. During the course of a year or so, I interviewed historians and anthropologists to understand what the games were really about. They were primarily a religious affair, and women were strictly banned from participating; a crime punishable by death. I felt that just based on gender alone, it doesn’t mean that one can’t excel in athletics, or anything else in life for that matter, so I made the choice to cast the project with all women as an expression of social and sexual equality.
On the Mark