Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
July 13, 2001, Washington Post

Game Face

Want to do something that is fun, free and all about sports?

Go see the Smithsonian’s photography exhibit “Game Face: What Does a Female Athlete Look Like?”

Believe me, every kid who plays sports, or who just watches sports, will find something to like among the more than 100 photographs. The pictures are so cool, so real, that they make you feel that you are part of the action.

The exhibit features all sorts of athletes and all sorts of sports. Some of the photos are of the world’s most famous athletes. Soccer star Brandi Chastain screaming after her World Cup winning goal. Olympian Janet Evans swimming. Sprinter Marion Jones taking a victory lap, clutching an American flag that billows behind her. Tiny Tara Lipinski skating.

But those famous and familiar pictures are not my favorites.

I love the pictures from way back in the past. Like the one from 1906 of a woman in full bloomers and high-collared shirt pole vaulting. Or the 1899 photo of girls lounging after their 12-10 basketball game in the gym at Western High School in Washington, D.C.

Some of the best photographs feature unknown, everyday athletes—the athletes who play for the pure love of the game. There’s one of a girl bouncing on the back of sheep, trying to hang on during a “mutton busting” contest at a Kansas rodeo. One look at her face and you know how much she wants to hang onto her ride. Another photo pictures Aimee Mullins proudly perched on the metal curves of her artificial legs after competing in the 1996 Olympic games for disabled athletes.

But my absolute favorite is the picture titled, “Girl on a Swing, Pine Street.” It shows a girl standing on a playground swing, soaring high in the air with a New York City bridge in the background. For me, that picture captures the free, high-flying feeling that so many kids get from their games.

So, catch the feeling. Go and see “Game Face.”

Game Face: What Does a Female Athlete Look Like? — At the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building, 900 Jefferson Dr. SW. Free. Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Call 202 357-2700 or visit www.si.edu.

FRED BOWEN is the author of sports novels for kids. Write to him at KidsPost, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071. Or e-mail (with “The Score” in the subject field): kidspost@washpost.com.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company