Danielle Levitt: Gridiron Culture

Today we celebrate the pompoms and pageantry of America's premier sporting event with photographer Danielle Levitt's hyper-real homage. More than a billion people worldwide will be tuning in for the kick-off of the 46th Super Bowl in Indianapolis this afternoon as the New England Patriots take on the New York Giants. This glittering climax to the season is a rematch of the final four years ago when the Giants defeated the Patriots and denied them only the second undefeated season in National Football League history. Focusing on frat parties, future stars, college football teams and high school cheerleaders, Levitt’s portraits take us beyond the glitzy façade to the dramatic personal narratives woven into the game. Renowned for the thought-provoking documentation of youth culture and outsiders collected in her 2008 monograph We Are Experienced, as well as work for The New York Times Magazine, AnOther, Arena Homme+ and Time, Levitt found football, with all its tribal rivalry and statistical arcana, an alluring milieu. “I'm passionate about people who are passionate, and it is a full time job to be even a high school football player,” she says. “Football is primary in these kids’ lives, before even the ladies.”