Mike O'Mahony – författare

This comprehensive, novel and exciting interdisciplinary collection brings together leading international authorities from the history of sport, social history, art history, film history, design history, cultural studies and related fields to explore the ways in which visual culture has shaped, and continues to impact upon, our understanding of sport as an integral element within popular culture. Visual representations of sport have previously been little examined and under-exploited by historians, with little focused and rigorous scrutiny of these vital historical documents. This study seeks to redress this balance by engaging with a wide variety of cultural products, ranging from sports stadia and monuments in the public arena, to paintings, prints, photographs, posters, stamps, design artefacts, films and political cartoons. By examining the contexts of both the production and reception of this historical evidence, and highlighting the multiple meanings and social significance of this body of work, the collection provides original, powerful and stimulating insights into the ways in which visual material assists our knowledge and understanding of sport. This collection will facilitate researchers, publishers and others with an interest in sport to move beyond traditional text-based scholarship and appreciate the powerful imagery of sport in new ways.This book was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

This comprehensive, novel and exciting interdisciplinary collection brings together leading international authorities from the history of sport, social history, art history, film history, design history, cultural studies and related fields to explore the ways in which visual culture has shaped, and continues to impact upon, our understanding of sport as an integral element within popular culture. Visual representations of sport have previously been little examined and under-exploited by historians, with little focused and rigorous scrutiny of these vital historical documents. This study seeks to redress this balance by engaging with a wide variety of cultural products, ranging from sports stadia and monuments in the public arena, to paintings, prints, photographs, posters, stamps, design artefacts, films and political cartoons. By examining the contexts of both the production and reception of this historical evidence, and highlighting the multiple meanings and social significance of this body of work, the collection provides original, powerful and stimulating insights into the ways in which visual material assists our knowledge and understanding of sport. This collection will facilitate researchers, publishers and others with an interest in sport to move beyond traditional text-based scholarship and appreciate the powerful imagery of sport in new ways.This book was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

The rise of modern sport in the mid-nineteenth century coincided with the emergence of photography as a new image-making medium, and both practices developed in parallel. Although early technological limitations restricted the possibilities for capturing sporting action, many early photographers nonetheless embraced sport as a powerful subject for their work, a trend that has continued throughout history.Photography and Sport traces the close relationship between photography and sport, from its beginnings to the present day. Taking a unique thematic approach, Mike O’Mahony describes the early sporting images, the impact of technological developments on sports photography, and the establishment of new visual conventions for the representation of sport in the popular illustrated journals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He examines the use of images of sport for commercial and advertising purposes, the gender politics of sporting practices, and the photographic representation of both the sports spectator and of non-professional sport, exploring their impact on wider socio-political issues along the way.Featuring some of the most significant sports photography of the last 150 years, this in-depth history will appeal to cultural historians, sports fans and all those with an interest in the history of sport or photography.

Few individuals have made as much of an impact upon a single medium as has Sergei Eisenstein upon cinema. His ground-breaking movies, such as Battleship Potemkin, October and Aleksandr Nevskii make regular appearances upon ‘all-time best movie’ lists, whilst classic sequences from these movies, such as the baby in the pram on the Odessa steps (Battleship Potemkin), and the battle on the ice (Aleksandr Nevskii), have entered the public consciousness and are referenced constantly by artists and film-makers alike, from Fellini, Hitchcock and Godard, to Martin Scorsese.Sergei Eisenstein analyses the complex life and works of Eisenstein as film-maker, artist and writer. Drawing heavily upon Eisenstein's extensive writings, both published and unpublished, Mike O’Mahony explores the major pathways and stages within his career. Unlike previous studies the author evaluates the life and work against the context of the social and historical circumstances of the first three decades of Soviet rule. He considers the director's major film releases alongside his other works, including his uncompleted film projects and his copious writings and drawings, to bring to light the singular personality of the subject and the unique circumstances in which his work was produced and received.A wide-ranging, deeply-researched and yet accessible account of a key figure in twentieth-century film, this book will appeal to the broad audience for film history.