Prep: The Spirit of a High School Football Team

“The minute you become complacent, it’s all over.” —Coach Rich Hansen Saint Peter’s Preparatory School (or simply “Prep”) is New Jersey’s only Jesuit high school. A community of learners that seeks to find God in all things, Prep prides itself on molding young men of competence, conscience, and compassion. The school has created an iconic football program that is annually ranked as one of the best in America, and is the subject of Richard Corman’s Prep: The Spirit of a High School Football Team. Corman’s photographs document the collective journey of Prep’s football team, the Marauders, through the 2007– 2008 school year. With a cinematic flair, he presents striking shots of the team in action, quiet landscapes of the fields of play, candid snaps of passionate fans, and tender portraits of individual players. Peppered throughout are quotes from their fearless leader, the remarkable Coach Rich Hansen, who holds the record for the most wins in the school’s history. It all comes together to reveal a poignant story about a group of young men playing football and experiencing adolescent life before our eyes, a story of “men for others” in the true Jesuit tradition. As a portrait photographer, Richard Corman has worked with actors, writers, designers, painters, musicians, and a roster of athletic stars that includes Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Eli Manning, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Lance Armstrong, and Cal Ripken, Jr. Corman is the author of Glory: Photographs of Athletes (William Morrow & Company, 1999) and I Am Proud: The Athletes of the Special Olympics (Barnes & Noble, 2003). A native New Yorker, Corman graduated from Hunter College with a degree in art history and psychology. His work is represented by ArtMix Photography. Read more