Gallery: Weird, Weird World of Sports
Sol Neelman01pancake-race
Pancake Race, Liberal, Kansas. ------------------------------ "I do not stage any of my photos. That doesn't mean that others won't. Event coordinators wanted those in the pancake race to pretend to start their race to appease a local TV crew. I took advantage and put myself right in the middle of the street. For the actual start, I was to the side, safely out of their way."
Sol Neelman02mud-pit-belly-flop
Mud Pit Belly Flop at the Redneck Games in East Dublin, Georgia --------------------------------------------------------------- "This day was such a blast, more so because I was spending it with a super-talented posse of photo friends. One of the things I miss about working traditional sports is the camaraderie with friends on the sidelines. I do my best to encourage my friends to join me on these weird sports trips. It's fun and inspiring to witness what other people will see at the same event. On a side note, this photo, which was taken about a month after I quit the newspaper, ran in *National Geographic* the following spring.
Sol Neelman03pig-n-ford-race
Pig-n-Ford Race, Tillamook, Oregon ---------------------------------- "I have a tendency to stay in a single spot, waiting for a 'money shot' to happen, and that's definitely the case here. Most of my images from this race are from this vantage spot, most with a wide angle lens. I knew there would be something I'd like from the take, I just had to be patient and lucky. Sometimes, it'd be nice to have a larger variety of images. But in the bigger picture, I simply want a fun, iconic image that sums up the energy of the sport I'm at. I try my best not to over-think things."
Sol Neelman04live-monster-wrestling
Live Monster Wrestling, Brooklyn, New York ------------------------------------------ "One of the things I love about weird sports is that, unlike with the Super Bowl or Olympics, it's pretty easy to get a photo credential. They simply love having someone take serious interest in their activity. The folks behind Kaiju Big Battel couldn't have been more accommodating. This is by far my favorite ringside seat ever."
Sol Neelman05tough-guy
Tough Guy, Wolverhampton, England --------------------------------- "I had seen amazing photos from this insane endurance race in England, which includes mud, water and fire, in print and online. I marked my calendar and made a point to go photograph it for myself. Three images from the race made the final book edit. My calendar is chock-full of fun and photogenic weird sports. If there are two or three sports in the same area around the same time, I simply go, hell or high water."
Sol Neelman06cardboard-tube-dueling-league
Cardboard Tube Dueling League, Seattle -------------------------------------- "Unlike with basketball or football, weird sports often don't have boundaries or sidelines. Everything is fair game. When these folks started dueling in a park field, I jumped right in. I figured the worst that could happen to me was a paper cut."
Sol Neelman07dog-surfing
Dog Surfing, Imperial Beach, California --------------------------------------- "The more I focus on weird sports, the more I become known for it. Many of my friends and colleagues will see something that I should cover and tell me about it. That's how I stumbled upon dog surfing. I was in California to photograph Segway Polo, and a dear friend, Melissa Lyttle, told me I should swing by San Diego for dog surfing. So I did."
Sol Neelman08big-wheel-racing
Big Wheel Racing, San Francisco ------------------------------- "One of the reasons why I photograph weird sports is that it makes me smile. And when I'm having fun, I take better photos. I was soaked to the bone on this rainy day, and my camera was starting to fog up with moisture. But I'm pretty sure I was grinning stupidly and laughing the entire time. I want every day to be like this day."
Sol Neelman09dodgeball
Dodgeball, New York ------------------- "I'm not the smartest person in the room, but when I heard about this attempt to set a world record in dodgeball, I knew it'd make for a fun photo. I tried to get a magazine to send me to photograph it, but I was told that they'd rely on wire images. I decided to go anyway. Guess no one at the wire services took any interest. I only saw a couple newspaper shooters and an event photographer. It's understandable that publications are trying to save money by using local photographers rather than flying someone across the county. That said, it's hard for photographers to make a living when the main appeal they have to editors and publications is that they live in a particular city, not their skill and vision."
Sol Neelman10drag-queen-softball
Drag Queen Softball, Seattle ---------------------------- "I was shooting a corporate assignment, documenting a gay-friendly neighborhood in Seattle, when I noticed a flier in a store window for drag queen softball. I drove back up the following week to photograph it for my book. I didn't expect my client to like the photos for their use, but they did. This image is something the newspaper would never run, but it was one of my favorites. The freedom to put together my own book meant that the final decision was always mine."
Sol Neelman11cyclo-cross
Cyclo Cross, Astoria, Oregon ---------------------------- "While I love to travel, many weird sports are right in my home state. I had seen photos of how cyclo cross riders get dressed up for their annual Halloween event. There was plenty of fun, crazy outfits this day, but none like this couple. When people come across this imagine in my book, there is always a groan. Always."
Sol Neelman12rat-city-roller-girls
Sol Neelman woke up beneath a blanket of stars outside Virginia City, Nevada, scratching the mosquito bite in the middle of his forehead. He was snuggled up in his sleeping bag on private property. But he didn't care, because his assignment that day was to shoot camel racing. This has been a fairly typical day in Neelman's life lately. The former newspaper photographer has been on the road for several years, chasing the wacky world of weird sports. He's got a new book filled with his collection of the oddest contests, and he's still out there shooting the most obscure sports he can find. "My goal with this project is go to places where there are fun pictures and milk things as much as possible," Neelman said. "One friend said that hanging out at weird sports is like celebrating Christmas — there are presents everywhere."  Neelman said the idea for the book was born of a convergence of events. In 2005, he was based in Eugene, Oregon, working as a contract photographer for *The Oregonian*. He loved working alongside what he called "some of the most creative photographers on the planet" but was unhappy in his role at the paper. He felt stifled and he worried he wasn't growing as a photographer. That same year, Neelman attended his first [GeekFest](http://geekfest2011.tumblr.com/). The conference was a kind of rebirth for his photography, motivating him to find and make pictures for himself instead of for a predetermined space in the newspaper. GeekFest also was when he discovered his first weird sport; roller derby. During the next two years Neelman shot a weird sport here and there when time allowed. But it wasn't until he quit the paper in 2007 that the idea of a body of work revolving around weird sports started to percolate. One of the first things he shot after quitting the paper was the Redneck Games in Georgia. He covered the event with friends and photographers, and one of his pictures appeared in *National Geographic*. From there it was onto a myriad of other weird sports, and before long he started thinking of making it all into a book. By this time, however, the financial realities of freelancing set in. Neelman had money from a big advertising gig that kept him going, but like every other freelancer on the planet, he soon worried about staying afloat financially. He financed the book through what he called "a monster commercial job" and has supported himself the rest of the time with the occasional editorial, corporate, adverting or wedding gig. He doesn't hide the fact that he’s often broke. "In some ways I'm doing better than some, and in some ways I'm not doing well at all," he said. "The lows come with trying to support the habit." Nonetheless, Neelman said he doesn't plan to give up his pursuit of weird sports anytime soon. Camel racing was the first stop on a two-month road trip that will include a dozen weird sporting events across the United States. In between, he'll promote his book at the American launch party in Denver. If things go as well as they did that day at camel racing, we can expect another book soon. Neelman said he arrived to find the event also featured ostriches and zebras. As if things couldn't get any more ridiculous, he said some Penthouse dancers also showed up. "It's that type of serendipity that makes photographing weird sports worth it," he said. "It's also what I love about life. It just gets squirrelier and squirrelier." You can see [more of Sol Neelman's work](http://www.solneelman.com/) or buy a copy of his new book on his website. __Above:__ Roller Derby, Seattle --------------------- "Unbeknownst to me at the time, photographing roller derby in 2005 would be the very start of this *Weird Sports* book project. I went with the attitude that I wanted to make photos that I liked and not worry about what would or would not run in a publication. This was so profoundly liberating. I quickly found myself looking for other weird, quirky sports to cover. Next thing I knew, I had stumbled upon a life-long project."
