FEARLESS
Jeff Sheng presents a powerful series of photographs documenting young U.S. and Canadian athletes who openly 
identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender and are openly “out” to their predominantly straight teammates and coaches on high school and college sports teams, that now contains over 100 athletes from both the United States and Canada. The athletes in “Fearless” were photographed by Sheng immediately following an intense workout in their represented sport in a location of their own choosing.
For the “Fearless” series, Sheng explains, “My goal was to create portraits of them that spoke of their athleticism and courage, and for an intimate and intense connection to be shown by having the athlete stare directly back at the viewer while simultaneously being exhausted from working out. I also wanted to challenge the way most athletes are stereotypically photographed, and my aim was to create a more honest and authentic way of looking at these young people.”
“Fearless” exhibition has traveled extensively at over forty venues including the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut and the LGBT Human Rights conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009.
"Fearless" will be at PRIDE house Whistler (at the Pan Pacific Whistler Village) during the Olympics, with Jeff Sheng himself on site February 19th and 20th to discuss his photo exhibit.
www.fearlesscampustour.org
JEFF SHENG
Jeff Sheng is an artist based in Los Angeles, California. His photographs have been published in the New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, OUT Magazine and the Advocate. His photographic series “Fearless,” has been exhibited at over 40 different venues during the past three years including at the 2009 LGBT Human Rights Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, and ESPN Headquarters in the United States, and in 2008 was featured as a segment for the ABC World News with Charles Gibson. Jeff was recently awarded a grant by the St. Paul's Hospital Foundation in British Columbia to expand “Fearless” into Canada, and the series, now with over a hundred LGBT high school and college athletes from the United States, will debut with athletes from Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler this February.
Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA: Studio Art) from the University of California, Irvine. He is now a Lecturer for the University of California, Santa Barbara, and teaches various courses in photography and also Asian American Studies. Sheng is represented by Kaycee Olsen Gallery in Los Angeles.
For inquiries please contact by Kaycee Olsen Gallery at (310) 903-7239 or info@kayceeolsen.com
www.kayceeolsen.com