While any professional bodybuilder is a sight to behold, female bodybuilders are undoubtedly even more fascinating than their male counterparts — for how they challenge expectations of gender. They morph their bodies into hyper-masculine, superhero-like proportions, turning the softness that typically characterizes a woman’s curvy body to rock-hard muscle. Their rigorous weight-lifting literally leaves them breast-less. In an exhibit here in NYC this summer, On And Off The Walls: Female Bodybuilders, photographer Martin Schoeller shows us the part of female bodybuilders the camera usually ignores — their faces. Schoeller, who is well-known for taking up-close portraits of celebrities that are not always flattering, shows us how very feminine, pretty, and delicate hard-muscled mamas can be. The juxtaposition of femininity and masculinity in these photographs is kind of amazing, don’t you think? [Hasted Hunt Kraeutler Gallery via The New Yorker]
