Female Bodybuilders

Female Bodybuilders is the second monograph by contemporary artist and photographer Martin Schoeller. In this work, he turns his unique style to female body builders. In Schoellers words, The women in my Female Bodybuilders series are outsiders. Typical viewers commonly regard them as freaks, incapable of comprehending why theyve gone to the extraordinary lengths required to achieve the unmistakable proportions of the competitive bodybuilder. The commitment levels these athletes demonstrate are as rigorous and demanding as those of any other extreme activity. And, given the public disinterest in their sport, and the practical demands of the lifestyle that makes it possible, there is a purity of purpose that few other serious athletes can matchWe all operate within narrowly constructed ideals of the good, the right, and the beautiful, all subject to the countless influences that swirl around us. The athletes presented here are no different in this regard, they are as vulnerable as any other person standing in front of a camera. So what is it that provokes our admiring, conforming, outraged or confused response? If a subject is proud of the way she looks, whose discomfort are you feeling?.