I am in awe of Portsmouth film-maker and photographer Mark Parham’s project called ‘The Everyday Olympian’.

‘The Olympics and Para-Olympics is a global inspirational competition, creating sporting heroes and inspiring people to achieve greatness. With many of the benefits this event creates never being seen, this body of work will serve as a documentary celebrating the everyday person. Long after the hype surrounding the 2012 Olympics has died down and life returns to normal, the facilities that were built as potential training camps for the athletes will remain, benefiting and being used by communities and individuals for years to come, individuals that in their own way are the ‘Everyday Olympians’.’

The output of the project will be 32 short films and 12 prints. All photographs and films were shot at the Mountbatten Centre Swimming Pool, Portsmouth. Mark is currently looking for a suitable venue to exhibit the work in February 2012.

Deakin and Petterd wrote: (Swimming defined)
“When you swim, you feel your body for what it mostly is, water and your body begins to move with the water around it. Swimming is not an activity where the surroundings disappear; it is an activity where the environment is the focus, the corporeal sensations of it all-encompassing. It is also an environment in which swimmers are isolated and alone”.

Mark said about the project ‘On a secondary level I hope the images will open this up exploring themes surrounding the human condition such as perceived physical perfection, isolation and vulnerability.’

To see the project visit the Facebook page at : http://www.facebook.com/theeverydayolympian