Scars & Stripes: The Culture of Modern Roller Derby

Seymore, a sociologist as well as a photographer, was fascinated by roller derby the moment she encountered it, and in order to gain an insider's photographic access to this tightly-knit sport, a "mix of counter culture and extreme sport," that "felt like a burleque troop meets a religious revival," she decided she needed to join it. Before she knew it, the "so-called roller derby %E2%80%98project' became everything" to her, and she "couldn't tell whether my derby career was leading my photography project, or if it was the other way around." More interested in the people and culture than the sport itself, Seymore portrays the skaters, their supporting community, and their "wild and crazy" ways in this raunchy, voluptuous, slightly scary but warmly passionate collection of photographs and quotations from derbyers. Although the community is proud of roller derby's recent evolution toward a more "athletic and serious" sport, they reminisce with nostalgic glee over its early days of fishnet stockings, hot pants, punk makeup, and stickered nipples; pudding-mud wrestling and on-the-floor brawling, and this funky exuberance dominates the book, which will be a must-have for the sport's participants and fans. But what may surprise outsiders is the strong sense of family, commitment, and loyalty that emerges from these pictures; although men, who are relatively new to the sport, appear in the book, most affecting are the images of powerful, committed women celebrating their strength and outrageousness and mentoring young girls to do the same. (Nov.)