Brookelyn sears

Photography

Artist statement

This series is about the transition from sport to career. This idea is pretty universal for anyone in sports but can also be understood by anyone who has had to make transitions throughout their lives. The inspiration for this series was my class, which is the Northern Illinois University Gymnastics Class of 2023 and my own journey. This is important because of everything we have gone through together and the lessons we learned from overcoming these hardships. We have gone through major injuries, COVID, and many sacrifices we have all had to make. A big sacrifice for any student athlete is a “normal” college life. We all had many classes, the expectation of good grades, staying eligible, practice, and other demands college athletics include.

 Sports are very impactful in shaping people into who they are. The lessons, such as hard work and determination, are carried throughout life and well into career. Each image shows a different aspect of this transition. These leotards show the journey from a little gymnast to a young adult. More specifically, leotards are a second skin to us. The idea of them being a “second skin” is that they are permanently imprinted on us. The photo of Olivia Lynd, who is currently a junior on the NIU Gymnastics Team, shows the two different sides of being a student athlete in college. It also shows the thoughts of having only one more year left as a student athlete. The photo of Jacklyn Dolitsky represents the transition from sport to career by wearing a favorite competition leotard and used poses from her routines in front of an NIU building that is significant to her major. The leotard’s and poses represent the milestones and lessons that gymnastics has taught and given the impact on an athlete’s life. The group picture of the NIU Gymnastics Class of 2023 represents the original inspiration and the fact that we are all in this transitional period together.

 My own transition is from gymnast to photographer. Photography is one of the biggest ways I can stay involved in the sport. There are so many different aspects and techniques that I have explored in creating so many different series that have really come together full circle to create this work.