Photo Courtesy Elizabeth, Flickr CC
Two Milwaukee-based artists are showcasing their portraits of riders from the iconic Riverwest 24 Hour Bicycle Race this Saturday at the Jazz Gallery, 926 East Center Street.
The show opens March 5th with a party from 6-10pm, and will be featured until Tuesday, March 8th.
Susie Seidelman and Lois Bielefeld shot over 200 portraits of riders during a small window of time during the race. The Riverwest 24 is a point-based race, with points awarded for the number of laps a rider completes and for their participation in what are known as Bonus Checkpoints, stations where riders must complete an activity in order to receive extra points.
From 5-7am on July 25th, Seidelman and Bielefeld took photos of riders at the Bonus Checkpoint they organized to document the race from a very personal, intimate and historical perspective.
“Making these portraits was an attempt to preserve a brief moment in the life of each rider, without any preparation or pretense,” said Seidelman.
“There’s something about shooting someone’s portrait when they’ve been exercising for 10 to 12 hours already, knowing they’ve got 12 to 14 more to go, that just makes for honest portraiture. That’s what you’ll see Saturday night. There were no do-overs, no special lighting or make-up. Participants were sweaty, exhausted, and sometimes drunk.”
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These portraits capture a sense of freedom and vulnerability missing from so much of today’s photographic culture. Shot on medium format film, they also represent a process being phased out in favor of faster, more convenient and less expensive digital production.
To cover the substantial cost of film and 24x30 prints, Seidelman and Bielefeld started a GoFundMe campaign whose $1300 goal was exceeded through the generous support of 37 community members, many of whom were portrait subjects.
“We’re just so pleased and so humbled by this outpouring of support,” said Bielefeld. “We can’t wait to share these portraits with the community.”
24 large (24x30) portraits will be on display at the Jazz Gallery. All 200+ photographs will be displayed in smaller, 4x6 format.
The event is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by Company Brewing whose beer will be available, free of charge, to all guests 21+.
