One still moment. One player. No name. No basket. No ball. Just one nameless and unidentifiable icon on a blank court with an arena full of people watching him. To many, basketball is much more than a game. It is a religion. There are stories of triumph and stories of significant downfalls. There are godlike and divine figures that have created and shaped the game to where it is today. However, like religion, specifically Christianity, there are apocalyptic events.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a series from the early 2000s to 2018 in which Paul Pfeiffer digitally erases specific details from photographs in order to create stunning, yet eerie visuals of professional basketball players. In each image, Pfeiffer manipulates photographs from NBA games by removing all evidence of other players, lines on the court, names and numbers on the player’s jersey, the ball, and all other contextual details that give insight into what is occurring. After erasing all these aspects in the photographs, one single player remains with lights shining on them and an audience intently watching. By doing so the player is raised to iconic status and appears as a deity worthy of worship.
PAUL PFEIFFER (American, 1966)
Fujiflex digital C-print
Acquired in 2024
