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Brian Finke Dives Deep Into The Biceps And Six-Packs Of Bodybuilding Competition Contestants

The world’s strongest man or woman; you may not even be close to it, but these people might be. Brooklyn based photographer Brian Finke captures an inside look into the pageants of incredibly chiseled muscle men and women of bodybuilding competitions. He not only displays the showmanship of this kind of competition, with the small bikinis and bathing suits, but also the competitors getting ready for their big moment in the spotlight. Men and women that seem to be almost bursting out of their skin with muscle parade themselves proudly for the cameras and judges in this captivating series.
Brian Finke’s photography portrays scenes of interesting happenings of everyday life. His documentary style mixed with a little bit of humor makes his work irresistible. This series of his, titled Most Muscular, can be seen on view at the School of Visual Arts Chelsea Gallery in New York City from August 22nd until September 19th. The exhibit not only features unusual characters with almost unbelievable muscle tone, but also another series of Brian Finke’s titled 2-4-6-8. This slightly offbeat series documents cheerleaders doing their routines, with a slight flavor of humor added in as well. Finke’s photography exhibits vivid colors and dramatic compositions, adding a bit of narrative to his work. Check out more of this artist’s alluring documentary style photography on his Instagram @BrianFinke.

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Photographs Most Muscular

By Andrew Boryga

In Brian Finke’s photographs of the bodybuilding world, almost everyone and everything is ripped — even the trophies. Many of the men and women boast layers upon layers of muscles stacked like bricks, their thighs rippling with cuts and their bodies glowing from orange dye. Muscles are abundant, clothing is not: glittery bathing suits, thong-like “performance suits” and the occasional pair of heels.

Mr. Finke was sent to Las Vegas in 2003 by Men’s Journal to document the annual Mr. Olympia competition, a pageant of modern anatomic marvels. He completed the assignment but was still fascinated. “You can’t really capture how a body looks visually any better than you can in these competitions,” he said. “It’s such an extreme level.”

Bodybuilding and bodybuilders have been photographed before. Check your local newsstand and find photos of bodies bulging with veins in places you didn’t realize veins existed. But Mr. Finke doesn’t dwell on that aesthetic. “That’s just not how I photograph,” he said. “I like to show the personalities of the people and also build a story of pictures. When building a story of pictures you have to make pictures that touch on a lot of different emotions.”

To do that, he spent a year and a half traveling the country, taking photographs at competitions that drew thousands in large arenas, as well as local competitions that took place in high school gymnasiums. In 2005, he released a collection of these photos, “Most Muscular,” a selection of which will be on view in “The Sports Show” a group exhibit at the SVA Chelsea Gallery starting August 22nd.

Mr. Finke had no trouble getting his imposing — at times, gargantuan — subjects to pose for the camera. “They were there to be seen in the first place,” he said. But once he went behind the curtains separating the crowd from the performers, he was surprised not to find the sort of screaming lunks you might encounter at a local gym. Those milling about were silent, contemplative.

“Before they go and perform they don’t have a lot of personality,” Mr. Finke said. “They don’t drink anything. They don’t eat anything. They are conserving their energy to perform.”

His photos reveal an emotional range one might not usually associate with bodybuilders. There is vulnerability in the eyes of those staring in the mirror before stepping onstage. There is a deft balance of humor and concentration in photographs of competitors “pumping themselves up” by cranking out dumbbell presses in the bathroom or handstand push-ups minutes before stage time.

Those moments help humanize the bodybuilders in his photos. Sure, big competitions like Mr. Olympia launched the careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno and lately offer grand prizes upward of $200,000. But most bodybuilders never see that kind of money or acclaim. Many compete simply to take their bodies to levels they didn’t think possible. Mr. Finke gets at this notion in photos of competitors who certainly look fit, but if you saw them on the beach you probably wouldn’t stare in complete awe. In some cases, you might not stare at all.

One photo shows an amateur at a Brooklyn competition sitting on a nondescript locker room bench. He looks down at the floor and his suit and bronze skin glow with the combination of sweat and Mr. Finke’s flash. “It’s this quiet, contemplative moment,” Mr. Finke said of the photo. “There is also the curiosity of not knowing what’s going through this guy’s head.”

Indeed, we can’t really tell if the photo was taken before or after the event. We can’t tell if the subject has won, lost or yet to compete. But we can tell he is focused, perhaps exhausted, and has pushed his body far. And that is what Mr. Finke wants us to take away.

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Who’s the Girl in the Video?

By Allison P. Davis Follow @allisonpdavis

What do you call the women in hip-hop videos? The often nameless ones who are featured dancing or posing, whose presence signals baller status for the usually male rapper they are there to support  — are they hip-hop honeys, video vixens, video girls, video hos, models, dancers? Are they revered, over-sexualized, demeaned, or empowered? Are they stars or set pieces? Who are the women you see in videos?

Photographer Brian Finke spent three years hanging out at backstage music-video shoots, getting to know these “hip-hop honeys,” as he calls them. He’s traveled from Las Vegas to New York, Miami to Los Angeles, compiling robust portraits of the women who appear in videos for artists like Busta Rhymes and Kanye West. The series will soon be released as a book of photos and interviews.

The Cut spoke to one of the women featured in Finke’s candids. Florinda “Flo” Estrada, a 25-year-old Finke photographed on set for CB Smooth's "Hublot" video. Flo started appearing in videos when she was 22, and as she tells it, she never set out to be a video girl, but ended up as a hip-hop model. Ultimately, she stopped appearing in the videos to pursue a B.A in exercise science (she just graduated this May and is working to become a fitness trainer and motivational speaker after she gets her M.A in psychology). We spoke with her about her years in the scene and why she found the work so empowering and transformative.

Can you tell me a bit more about why it’s such an attractive world to get into?
Being involved with music videos in the hip-hop world and the "hip-hop honeys," there's lots of perks and connections. You feel beautiful and attractive and important when you're hanging out with some of the most important people in such an incredibly influential music industry. But, there's more to life than feeling beautiful and attractive and important and that's what I've learned from part of that world. That's what's been the most valuable to me in my life. Just like I said in the beginning, I wouldn't consider myself a "video girl" or "hip-hop honey." I'm just more like your average girl who ventured out and ended up being part of that but learned about myself through it.

How did you start appearing in music videos and getting into the world of hip-hop?
To be honest, I was mingling with music, that's how it started for me. I was mingling with people who were involved in the music industry because I sing as well. I was chasing that for a little bit and that's how I got introduced to more people, people who were producers, photographers, all that kind of stuff and that's kind of how it happened. But I was originally living in upstate New York and in a bit of a tight spot. I was attempting to finish school but also had lots of opportunities laid out for me for music and modeling in New York City. I was touring but I had to make a decision, so I took a risk and dropped out of school and chased all the glitz and glam and it was the best decision I ever made. It made me the person I am today.

How do you mean?
I was really overweight for most of my life. I was like 260 pounds at one point and I'd lost almost 100 pounds and that's when I kind of was like, “I want to chase my dreams.” That's when I dropped out of school — I thought that was my dream-dream, but I was kind of chasing that love and attention and admiration and I wasn't filling myself with my own self-love. That's what I learned from being there. Truly, I learned that trying to supplement that from outside sources wasn't going to do it for me and that I had to do that by myself. And being around all that attention and hype, I guess you could say, it really showed me that that wasn't going to fix it and it encouraged me to make my own changes in my life.

That's a hard lesson for women no matter what industry they're in.
I literally had to eat, sleep, and breathe the industry in order to be like, "Oh my God, this is not it, this is what you've been trying to chase and you can't fill that void with all the external." After a while, after a casting call didn’t go well, it was in that moment that I was like, "I am so sick of trying to be this perfect thing that I can't be." That's when I realized that holy crap, this is not for me and went back to school.

How do you think people perceive you when you're on set or when you tell people that you appear in rap videos?
To be completely honest, I get mixed reviews. It's so funny because someone ran across a video I had online just recently and she was like, "Oh my God, you look beautiful, that's so awesome. You should consider modeling if you're not." And then I remember when I first put online access to that video on my social-media websites I got serious hatred from people from my hometown. I can honestly say that I have never been involved in anything wrong or immoral. I think it definitely has a negative connotation. A lot of these girls are driven and doing other things and they aren't necessarily involved with the nonsense that it's often associated with.

What kind of nonsense? Are you alluding to the stories or rumors of misogyny that seems prevalent? Have you felt pressure around that?
I know what you're saying and I'm going to be so honest. I've definitely heard that those things do go on and I can't say that they do because I personally truly have not experienced them, but I think it's because I set that in stone when I first even got involved and people knew that Flo wasn't going to get involved with this set. Something even as simple as dancing in a risqué way, it's not me, personally. That's what I've experienced, that little bit of girls being willing to wear less clothes or be a little more sexual or give a little more sex appeal on camera, but I would never go past what I was comfortable with. There a lot of other girls who are willing, and that's okay for them, but it's not okay for me.

How do you define a hip-hop honey?
They're all so diverse, they're all different shapes and sizes, and they’re all doing different things. Some of them are in nursing school trying to make some extra cash on the side; for some of them, this is their life and they're dedicated to this completely. Some of them have boob jobs, some of them have butt jobs, and some of them are completely natural. It's really diverse, which is awesome, and to be honest, I've never had a really bad experience with any of the girls. When you think about how they're portrayed in music videos, they seem aggressive sometimes, but I've met a lot of really awesome girls.

Artcile.
Hip Hop Porfolio

Since 2012 American photographer, Brian Finke has been capturing behind the scenes images from hip-hop video shoots throughout New York City's 5 boroughs. In 2015, Finke plans to expand the series— tentatively titled, Hip Hop Honeys— shooting for the first time outside of NYC, in Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles.