Equal the Contest

<p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>Equal the Contest the photobook redefines what a football player looks like and who belongs on the football field. It celebrates not only what our bodies are capable of but the stories that bring us to the field and equal importance of the spirit in which the game is played.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>This Photobook is a 188 page book celebrating the founding players of the Mt Alexander Falcons football club a club started in 2021 by and for women and gender diverse people. Within 12 months of launching the club it had attracted 70 playing and training members and throughout practice matches despite being rejected from the league gave 45-50 people the opportunity to take the field and play AFL.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>19 players stories are represented alongside their portraits in Chapter 2 </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>The First Quarter: In our bodies in our stories. </em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>The book is interrupted by chaotic immersive scenes in the moment of play which are stills taken from footage that Mitch captured from the perspective of their body during the filming of the feature documentary Equal the Contest (see below). More portraits of players are interspersed between the stories and game play footage to show the diversity of players and redefine what a football player looks like. Players chose for themselves how they wanted to present themselves some choosing to smile as football is so joyous to them some choosing to look strong and reflect how they feel in their body while playing.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>The following chapter </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>Second Quarter: In action visible</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)> shows players photographed from a sideline perspective. For many players this is the first time they've seen themselves playing sport as despite many having played sport their whole lives their games have never been worthy of having a photographer turn up.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>The </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>Third Quarter: In solidarity</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)> is a celebration of the connection and camaraderie experienced by teammates family and spectators.</span></p><p></p><p>The book culminates in the <em>Fourth Quarter </em>a rewriting of the official AFL glossary of terms. </p><p></p><p>Equal the Contest is a joyous reclamation of our bodies of access to long denied sports and a tribute to the pioneers of the game of AFL. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Along side this book a ground breaking feature documentary film was also released was selected for 9 film festivals in Australia and Internationally won a number of awards and is still rolling out as part of an impact campaign. </p><p></p><p>Head to equalthecontest.au for more information. </p><p></p>