Selected Sports Images (1968-2018)
In my youth I loved both playing and watching sports. I wasn't a great athlete, but I could hold my own on the baseball field or basketball court. It was not always easy to find open fields and greenspace in the middle of New York City, so we played stoop ball on the cement steps of our apartment buildings, and brought our ball and gloves outside for a catch on the sidewalk. On other occasions we headed to our local parks. In winter, we’d walk down the block to Riverside Park for sledding, and headed east to Central Park for softball and basketball.
There were a number of highlights in my early athletic career that are still burned into my memory bank. When I was seven years old I batted 4 for 4, played stellar defense, and hit the game-winning home run to win an important softball game for our day-camp team. Then, when I was twelve, I was lucky enough to partner with an amazing shooter and ball-handler who I was teamed up with on the pickup courts of Central Park. He seemed never to miss a shot during our 2-on-2 pickup basketball games, where I fed him the ball, rebounded, and even hit the occasional shot when he was double-teamed. We stayed on the court for hours on end, slaying multiple opponents and winning every game. When we finally called it a day, I felt what it was like to be a true champion.
As a fan, I remember freezing my butt off at New York Giant football games in the dead of winter, and watching my favorite New York baseball team, the Mets, lose almost every game they played during their inaugural 1962 season. But New York’s basketball team, the Knicks, were my real true love. I had spent the 1969-70 season obsessed with the team, watching as many games as possible on TV and spending my days in 9th grade class doodling caricatures of the players on the covers of my school notebooks. When the Knicks made it to the finals that year, I waited in line at Madison Square Garden all night with my pals Guy and Billy to get tickets, and then watched as the Knicks beat the LA Lakers in seven games to win the NBA Championship. It was an historic championship finals and to this day it was the single greatest sports experience of my life.
Photographically, I have always been fascinated by people who are at the top of their profession, so it seemed like a no-brainer that once I began taking photographs I would gravitate towards shooting athletes and the sports they played. I hope you enjoy these few memoriable sports moments from my photo archives.
(For image data, click thumbnail and hover cursor over enlarged photographs)
Title: Arthur Ashe Winning the US Open- becoming the first African-American Male to Capture a Grand Slam Event, September 9, 1968
Medium: Scan from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Muhammad Ali, 5th Ave. NYC, 1977
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Larry Bird, Boston Celtics, Boston Garden 1988
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: John McEnroe, Exhibition Match, LA Forum, Inglewood CA
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Magic Johnson, LA Lakers, LA Forum, Inglewood CA, 1984
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Close Finish, Boston Marathon, Boston MA
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Joe Montana, SF 49ers, Foxboro MA 1988
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Ivan Lendl, LA Forum, Inglewood CA
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Larry Bird and Red Auerbach, Boston Garden, Boston MA 1989
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Kareem Abdul Jabbar, LA Forum, Inglewood CA 1984
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Reggie Jackson, Fenway Park, 1986
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: NE Patriots, Foxboro Stadium 1987
Medium: Scan from 35mm Color Slide
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Sky Hook, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, LA Forum, Inglewood CA 1984
Medium: Scan from 35mm Color Slide
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Boston Marathon, Boston MA
Medium: Scan from 35mm Color Slide
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Jimmy Connors, LA Forum, Inglewood CA
Medium: Scan from 35mm Color Slide
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Rookie Alex Rodriguez, Fenway Park, Boston MA
Medium: Scan from 35mm Color Slide
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Good, Foxboro Stadium MA 1987
Medium: Scan from 35mm Color Slide
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Turning the Double Play with an airborne Cal Ripken, Fenway Park, Boston MA
Medium: Scan from 35mm Color Slide
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Wheelchair Olympics
Medium: Scan from 35mm Color Slide
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Curtis Strange Winning the US Open, The Country Club, Brookline MA 1988
Medium: Scan from 35mm Color Slide
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Kirby Puckett at Yankee Stadium, NYC
Medium: Scan from 35mm Color Slide
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Suffolk Downs, Boston MA
Medium: Digital Color Photograph
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Boston Bruins Championship Parade, Boston MA November 6, 2018
Medium: Digital Color Photograph
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Home-run, Bleachers-Fenway Park, Boston MA August 3, 2011
Medium: Digital Color Photograph
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Tom Brady, NE Patriots Championship Parade, Boston MA, February 7, 2017
Medium: Digital Color Photograph
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster
Title: Red Sox Championship Parade, Boston MA Oct 31, 2018
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print from 35mm B&W Negative
Copyright © 2022 Joshua Touster