Lens Blog: Sol Neelman’s Quest for Oddball Sports

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While other sports photographers head to Florida for spring training, Sol Neelman drives through the mountains of Idaho looking for K-9 keg pulls and a skijoring event (skiers, pulled by horses). His itineraries are not shaped by the N.F.L. season or the P.G.A. tour, but by the schedules of weekend warriors pursuing oddball pastimes.

“If I can fit the mini-park wiffle ball tournament into the same weekend as the mud football championship, that’s a trip I have to take,” Mr. Neelman said.

The results of Mr. Neelman’s attempt to chronicle the wild world of not-ready-for-ESPN competitions are found in his book, “Weird Sports,” which will be released in the United States on April 10. In Mr. Neelman’s universe, hockey is played under water, softball in drag and football in lingerie. Truck racers carry pigs under their arms, small children ride sheep and fighters battle with pencils or cardboard rolls, not fists.

Sol Neelman The Belgian sport of bossaball includes elements of volleyball, soccer, gymnastics and capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. Each side of the court has an integrated trampoline, allowing players to bounce high enough to spike the ball.

Mr. Neelman’s journey into the sports hinterlands started when he stopped shooting for The Oregonian newspaper in 2007 and attended Geekfest, which he calls a conference for “recovering newspaper photographers.” Inspired to take pictures for his own gratification, Mr. Neelman, a native of Portland, Ore., shot a roller derby in Seattle and was captivated by the energy at the event.

“It was so much fun that I just thought, ‘What’s next? Cow chip-throwing contest in Oklahoma?’ ” he said ” ‘I’m there.’ ”

Mr. Neelman began blogging about his adventures outside the sports mainstream, developing a style he describes as “more refined and a little sillier.” A chance encounter with a judge familiar with his work at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany in 2010 led to a book deal.

“Weird Sports” is a simple collection of photos and captions. Except for the foreword, written by a roller derby competitor, there is almost no text. Mr. Neelman did not take a journalistic approach when selecting his subjects.

“What’s the name of the dog on the surfboard? I don’t know and I don’t care,” he explained.

Sol Neelman Hog wrasslin’ seems simple enough: be the fastest team to stuff a muddy pig in a barrel. It helps to have a cooperative hog.

Mr. Neelman’s work, which can also be seen on the Playbook blog at Wired.com and in a coming exhibition at the Screaming Sky Gallery in Portland, invites viewers to ask their own questions. Why is a woman in an evening gown pulling a man on a bicycle? What possesses grown men to dress like movie monsters and destroy miniature cities in the wrestling-like sport called Kaiju? And just how does Mr. Neelman learn about these events?

The answer to the last question is no secret: fans of Mr. Neelman’s work often make recommendations, and participants in one weird sport can sometimes steer him toward the next. A few of the events Mr. Neelman photographed early in his project have become mainstream, most notably extreme fighting. “It blew up without my permission,” Mr. Neelman joked. Roller derby is also enjoying a renaissance, and Mr. Neelman believes that kaiju could soon break big.

All of the hog wrasslin’ and Segway polo have kindled for Mr. Neelman an appreciation of part-time athletes, whose enthusiasm more than makes up for their lack of ability. Professional athletes “kind of bore me, though I appreciate their grace,” Mr. Neelman said. “I expect greatness when I watch LeBron James. I don’t expect it from someone who just goes out on weekends.”

Sol Neelman A duck mascot navigates the polo field during a break in the action of Segway polo.

The quest to document the fringes of the sports world is not without frustrations. Mr. Neelman once traveled to Florida to shoot a swamp buggy race, only to discover that event had been canceled because of high water levels. “I got swamped out,” he said. A machine gun shooting competition was also canceled because of excess rain.  “I didn’t know that could happen,” he said. “The course was completely underwater.”

Underwater machine gun shooting? That sounds like an even weirder sport. Luckily, Mr. Neelman has already begun work on a sequel.

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