The Rowers focuses on the 16-18yr old age group at Lea Rowing club. 

Rowing on the Lea River and the clubs existence dates back to the mid 19th century, whilst rowing supposedly dates back to the Ancient Egyptians who evolved it from a means of transportation and warfare into the sport of racing. It migrated to the UK in the 1700’s where the oldest rowing contest in the world has been held annually since 1715.

From Oct 2022 – August 2023, I followed the group through training, races and regattas. The Monday to Friday year long slog sessions at the gym. Weekend training sessions at the Royal Docks usually battling through cold winter mornings longing for the warm spring sunshine to make an appearance, all leading to race season. A three month stretch from May to July taking in rivers and rowing lakes throughout the UK culminating in the jewel in the rowing crown, the world famous Henley Regatta.

As an outsider to Rowing my intention was to record a group of teenagers in the midst of transition in a sport that I knew nothing about. At that point in life, a year is a significant period. Our sense of identity is in a constant state of change and the relationships we have to ourselves, family, friends and the world evolve as we accumulate new information and new expriences. Previously the apple of our parents eye, slowly another person trying to figure out the complexities of life. Throw in intense physical training on a daily basis, high level competition with our peers, pivotal moments in education and audacious clothing into the mix and it’s enough to accelerate that process to lighting speed. Still children in some respect, yet adults in another.