Women Who Hit Very Hard — Dewey Nicks – Slide Show – NYTimes.com.
These New York Times photos of some of the top female tennis players go with a story emphasising the sheer power on display on the woman’s tour seem to have been generating a little buzz. They’re apparently taken with a shiny new type of camera (whose predecessor Chase Jarvis raved about), which shoots in stonking high-def. It’s clear to see that the technology of the camera and the photographs and film are stunning – they’re absolutely crystal. But. Here’s the thing. I don’t like them as photographs or film clips. And that’s probably because they *are* so good.
For me, they showcase the thing I really really don’t like about some women’s tennnis – the power, without anything else. Not all women’s tennis, for sure, there is some artistry still there, if not as much as there was – and oh, what I wouldn’t give to get to watch Hingis play Novotna again, or Henin for that matter, or the glory that was women’s doubles when Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva played, back when I would actively seek out women’s tennis over men’s – and this perspective sells Kim Clijsters, in particular (of the subjects on display here) short. But it’s just power, and without any shot-making skill or artistry it’s just ugly and dull. And that’s what these photos say to me.
