Somebody Books announces the release of FEARLESS: Portraits of LGBT Student Athletes, a photography book and personal memoir by American artist Jeff Sheng. Recalling his experience as a closeted high school student athlete in the 1990s, Sheng uses his own story as a foundation for a wider exploration of the current LGBT rights movement. Woven throughout the 316-page book are photographic portraits of 202 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender high school and college athletes from the United States and Canada taken by the author over a 13-year span between 2003 and 2015.
The book also includes intimate writings from some of the featured athletes and concludes with an afterword essay by retired professional NBA basketball player Jason Collins.
Swimmers Pictured in Fearless
Jack Thorne, Matt Korman, Kate Van Pelt, Lauren Neidigh, Nikki Miller, Luis Garzon Manco, Sean Smith, Andrew Langenfeld, Hudson Rains, Henry Kietzman, Schuyler Beeman, Linsey Warren-Shriner, Matthew Vukich, Mario Guevara.
Collins writes: “Coming out is one of the bravest actions that a person can take. The fact that these individuals are so young, still in high school and college, makes their decision to step forward even more remarkable. It gives us hope and makes us proud to see the next generation boldly embracing their true selves at such a young age. They are individuals that come from different races, religions, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Their images displayed in this book are truly inspirational.”
FEARLESS: Portraits of LGBT Student Athletes is now available for sale at [fearlessbookstore.com] and will start shipping to the public the last week of June, the timing coinciding with the 45th anniversary of the first LGBT pride marches held in New York and San Francisco in 1970.
The book also pays homage to the original 8-stripe LGBT pride flag designed by artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. Instead of just one cover, FEARLESS has 8 different specialty athlete covers showcasing the diversity of the LGBT sports community. (All books are identical inside). When stacked together, the 8 different book versions form a three-dimensional representation of the original 1978 LGBT pride flag.
Swimming news courtesy of Jeff Sheng.
