ePic Moments

The Summer Olympics is the largest quadrennial sporting event in the world according to the number of participating countries and athletes.

divided into five sections

In fact, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Games in Stockholm. To commemorate this occasion, Fotografiska is proud to present ePic Moments, an Olympic history told via photographs of victory, defeat, and social change from 1912 to today.

The exhibition is divided into five sections. In the first section entitled Olympic Notables we meet legends such as Jesse Owens, Nadia Comaneci, and Paavo “Flying Finn” Nurmi through stunning photographs that capture their path to victory. More than legendary, many of these athletes were also innovators. Remember American Dick Fosbury and his “Forsbury Flop”? The high jump would never be the same after the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

The Swedes features Swedish athletes that have defined their sport such as Ulrika Knape, Mikael Ljungberg, and Carolina Klüft. In fact, many of these athletes have become celebrities in their own right, such as weightlifter Lennart “Hoa-Hoa” Dahlgren, “Hoa-Hoa” taking his name from the sound “hoa” he made when competing.

Gender Identity and Equality takes up gender verification testing as well as transgendered athletes, such as Keelin Godsey’s right to compete, but also women’s equality and gender roles.

The Politics section of the exhibition features photographs of gripping moments when the Games were used as a political platform. The Heil Hitler salute at the 1936 Games in Berlin, but also Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ Black Power salute at the Mexico City Games in 1968 were moments captured on camera that went down in history.

Other Stories features photographs of people or events associated with the games, such as Silvia Sommerlath pictured while working as an Olympic hostess. Who could have guessed then that she would meet and marry Crown Prince Carl Gustav and become the Queen of Sweden? Also featured in this section is the moment Soviet Boris Onischenko was caught cheating in an Olympic fencing fiasco; and who could forget the recent drama surrounding an angry Ara Abrahamian who cast aside his bronze medal?

These are just a select few of the many athletes and events that have shaped the Games. Since their re-institution at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1896, the Games have captivated the world. Currently over 200 nations participate and thousands of athletes compete. ePicMoments is Fotografiska’s homage to the Olympic Games featuring over 70 images of some of the world’s best sports photography.

A Fotografiska Exhibition in collaboration with Riksidrottsmuseet.
Curator: Michelle Marie Roy