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Two is the loneliest numberDate: 29.03.2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team Canada
Taking secondplace is a little like being the middle child: You stand in the shadows between the triumphant first-place star and the plucky third-place finisher who is just happy to have made it at all.
Of course, second is very commendable, but frankly, because it's not first, no one cares (except maybe your mom). "The second person is always forgotten in history," says Toronto based photographer Sandy Nicholson. "You never remember the person who came second. There is a new documentary about the first person killed in the war in Iraq and the documentary maker was saying there is no story about the second."
Nicholson has long explored the forgotten and unseen in his photography (his recent exhibitions have featured people in elevators and people in the suburbs), and for his latest project he set out to capture the faces of competitors and contestants the moment after their runnerup status is announced. He finds it's a tough place to be.
"It's full of mixed emotions," says Nicholson. "Everyone knows first is full of jubilation and pleasure, but second--it can go either way."
And so while all eyes are on the winner, No. 2, in the name of good sportsmanship and despite fading into the background, is advised to put a gracious smile on his or her face. Nicholson says the photos comment on the subtlety of disappointment within the hyped-up spectacle of competition. "Some people are really pleased to be second, and some people say they're really pleased and they are not," he says.
And, he notes, in light of the fact that third place is literally not as close to first place, those taking the No. 3 position may not feel as dejected. "There isn't the possibility that if you did one thing you might have been able to the change the course of events," he explains.
After photographing his subjects, Nicholson asked each of them if there was a moment when they realized, "Oh no, that's going to cost me. I'm going to be second." He says horse-racing jockeys have the most at stake, since those who come first take a 10% share of the winnings, while those who come second get nothing. "And it's not just a 'I'll do better next time' scenario; coming in second could mean the end of their relationship with their horse and the owner," he explains.
One of Nicholson's favourite subjects was the beat up and bloodied Bump Postlethwait, a second place bull rider at the Markham Rodeo. Although Postlethwait was trod upon by a bull, shortly after collecting his ribbon he drove five hours to compete in another rodeo. "He is the epitome of literally getting back up on your horse, or bull," says Nicholson.
Ultimately, the photographs speak volumes of our competitive nature and the extraordinary number of activities we participate in to indulge it. Nicholson attended cat shows, bodybuilding competitions, ballroom-dancing championships, rodeos, cattle fairs, power-cheer contests, squash games, Lego robot-building competitions, a rock-paper-scissors meet and many other events. In each, someone takes second place, but everyone takes it differently.
"One of the bodybuilders said she was really happy because she was beaten by a woman who was half her age. She had travelled from Australia to be in the competition, and after her second-place standing business was booming at her company called Fit Mom," recalls Nicholson.
But the Cheerleading Jaguars from Quinte Bay, Ont., who took second at the Power Cheer Nationals were in tears and hugging each other when Nicholson approached with his camera. "And there was a jump-rope group from the United States; they took it very badly, the entire team was in tears," says Nicholson. "There are all these strange competitive events, but for the people in them it's their passion. It's everything to them."
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