NEW YORK, July 17 — Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present highlights the role of sport photographers within the history of photography at large, beyond sports history as a standalone category.

Herb Ritts (American, 1952–2002). Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Point Dume, 1987.© Herb Ritts Foundation/Trunk Archive

This exhibition elucidates how the finest sports photographers capture a swift, fugitive moment and make it iconic, often amplifying the beauty of motion from an unexpected point of view. Sports photographers have played a leading role in the evolution of camera and film technology, portraying what the naked eye alone cannot see.

Featuring more than 200 photographs by over 170 photographers, the images have been selected for their aesthetic, cultural, and historical significance, and span differing athletic practices and world-wide international contexts.

"Seeing athletic greatness, we both recognise our personal physical limitations and delight in bodies and minds taken to new heights,” stated guest curator Gail Buckland, who also organised the 2009 exhibition Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present at the Brooklyn Museum.

Georges Demeny (French, 1850–1917). Chronophotograph of an exercise on the horizontal bar, 1906.© INSEP Iconothèque

The time period covered — 1843 to today — encapsulates a thorough survey, one that weaves in portraits of athletes, swelling crowds of fans, team efforts and individual prowess, as well as global phenomena such as the Olympics.

Although digital images make up the majority of images on view, the earliest photographic materials include daguerreotypes and salted paper prints.

Photographic greats such as Richard Avedon, Rineke Dijkstra, Ernst Haas, Stanley Kubrick, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Martin Munkacsi, Edward Muybridge, Leni Reifenstahl, Alexander Rodchenko, and Andy Warhol are among those featured behind the lens. — AFP-Relaxnews

Bob Martin (British, born 1959). Avi Torres of Spain sets off at the start of the 200m freestyle heats, Paralympic Games, Athens, September 1, 2004, printed 2016.© Courtesy of Bob Martin/Sports Illustrated