For two years I photographed the Austin High School cheerleaders, beginning when my daughter was elected to the squad in March, 1988. Twice, during the summers of 1988 and 1989, I accompanied the squad to cheerleading camp at Southern Methodist University. From the spring of 1988 through the spring of 1990 I photographed practices, pep rallies, and games. I also photographed as much of their personal lives as possible. I went to high school parties and weekends at the beach. I photographed senior girls as they toilet-papered football players’ front yards on nights preceding games. I also photographed individual cheerleaders in their homes with their families.

Cheerleading is a cultural phenomenon, and, as such, lends itself to documentation. In Texas, cheerleading is as entrenched a tradition as is football. A cheerleader is selected not only for her athletic ability but also for her appearance. Her reputation must be above reproach, a criterion not considered for the football team or band. A cheerleader is a leader and a model for her peers. She is a symbol of young womanhood, a female ideal. One wonders if this traditionally-approved way of being female is desirable or relevant to today’s image of women.

I am also interested in the personal aspects of cheerleading: the adolescent girl’s experience of it and conversely, her experience of adolescence. In this way, the project is not only documentary but also an exploration of both a personal and a universal experience. When my daughter was elected cheerleader, she felt that she had fulfilled her lifelong dream, a dream shared by many high school girls. My own experience was different: I tried out and didn’t make it. It was a painful experience, which I still remember. This “in-group/out-group” issue of acceptance is a part of adolescence that I witnessed over and over in this project. My own experience of searching for identity came back to me as I observed the same behavior in the students that I photographed.

Of course, for me the project yielded the intensely personal experience of observing and photographing my daughter in this special period of her development. I find that my ongoing interest in photographing children has paralleled my own children’s growth. As they grew, my interest in children their ages grew alongside them. Now I find, as has so often been the case in my work, that my daughter’s cheerleading companions are extensions of her. Uncovering this inside view of adolescents was fascinating, rare, and emotionally powerful.