German photographer Klaus Lenzen captures the movement of pole vaulters as their bodies fly through the air, gracefully seeming to defy gravity. By favoring a more abstract interpretation of sports photography, Lenzen brings a sense of movement to the static documentation of athletics. In the series ‘Pole Vault’, his framing of the body and pole offers an indication of flight without ever showing a full body or action. We see arms flung wide, legs poised, the flexible pole at the moment at which it has been let go cast across the sky; but never do we see a face. In this series of square black and white images, Lenzen has recast pole vaulting as an ethereal exploration of flight.
