Weird Sports with Sol Neelman

Redneck Games, East Dublin, Georgia

Sol Neelman calls himself a failed athlete. But with a camera he’s a sports-shooting superstar.

The 1994 graduate (BA, journalism) and pro photographer—bettercallsol.com—travels the globe documenting “fun sports.” That includes cheese rolling in England, Big Wheel racing in San Francisco, and Kaiju monster wrestling in New York City. His third book—Weird Sports 3 (Kehrer Verlag)—publishes this summer.

Neelman was part of a team at the Oregonian that won a 2007 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting, and his work has appeared in publications ranging from National Geographic to Penthouse. Clients include Nike, Adidas, Clif Bar, and more.

“Someone asked me once what I love doing,” Neelman says. “The answer: travel, sports, photography, and weird shit. For this failed athlete and addicted traveler, life is good. And weird.”

Matt Cooper is managing editor of Oregon Quarterly.

Bubble Soccer
Bubble Soccer, Dallas
Big Wheel Racing
Bring Your Own Big Wheel, San Francisco
Frog Jumping
Frog Jumping, Calaveras County, California
Color Run
Color Run, Seattle
Dodgeball
Dodgeball, New York City