In an article we shared in February, we described photographer Amanda Cain (@AmandaJCain) as a visual artist and a trailblazer. She continues to make good on those titles by not only improving her own work but by creating spaces and opportunities for other photographers. Now, Cain, the first Black female team photographer in the NHL, is partnering with The Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon to put on the first ever photography exhibit solely featuring Black female sports photographers. We interviewed Amanda to learn how this project came about, her goals and hopes for this project, and what she has learned in her role of exhibition curator.

We connect with NHL photographer Amanda Cain about the pop-up gallery she curated with The Sports Bra in Portland featuring Black female sports photographers.

The Sports Bra 

This whole endeavor started when Cain heard about the Sports Bra, a women's sports-focused bar in Portland, Oregon founded by Jenny Nguyen. This bar is the first of its kind, and has garnered a ton of well-deserved attention. A recent article in Forbes states, “In just over one year, Nguyen and the Bra bar have created a vibrant community of women supporting women, and one that stretches well-beyond being a place to watch women’s sports.” Cain was excited to learn about this community and wanted to include women sports photographers in it.

Inclusion, community, and support are in Cain’s ethos. In that article we shared back in February she discussed her role in the NHL and said, “I am the first. But I don't want to be the only.”

So she sent a cold email to the bar inquiring about a pop-up gallery exhibit, and after a while she received a response that Nguyen and her team were excited about the idea. “What I was originally going for is properly showcasing women in sports photography,” says Caine. “And Nguyen had the ideal of to showcase Black women sport photographers. Which is great, but it’s pretty niche, there aren’t that many of us. But we put out the call and we got a good number of submissions.”

Photo by Liv Lyons. Sony Alpha 1. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/1600-sec., f/2.8, ISO 640

The main message of the exhibition? For people to see that there are confident strong Black women photographers shooting sports. “Imagine showcasing a group of talented Black women photographers, which while curated by the NHL’s First Black Female Photographer allows the narrative to push further. What could this look like or why would you do such a thing? Not only is The Sports Bra thinking about viewership/clientele, but Nguyen’s main focus is also to spotlight those whose works may not be currently viewed or may not be on gallery walls. This experience is not only for the athletes themselves, but those of us who aim to push the narrative toward the way we envision it. Every photographer is unique in their way and it's an honor to curate a gallery of works in which we as Black women photographers see it.”

Cain said she doesn’t have a ton of experience in event coordination and that along with curating a gallery is pretty new to her. But she’s learned a lot along the way in terms of showcasing images both a physical gallery exhibit and an online one. 

Curating A Gallery – Composition, Lighting, Uniqueness


First off, for this exhibit, we asked Cain what it is that she looks for in an image that will be included in this exhibition. “Definitely composition, a striking pose. Especially if you’re using artificial lighting, I want to see it done with intention. And of course I’m looking for uniqueness of the shot.”

She says that it has been interesting to see different styles of photography within sports and that she’s enjoyed looking at other’s perspectives. “It's the artist's work and they probably don't even consider themselves artists, many sports photographers don’t. But here we can include some more abstract work so that’s been fun.” 

Photo by Annie Schutz. Sony Alpha 7R V. Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/1250-sec., f/2.8, ISO 640

She also brought up an interesting point on what you’re shooting for. Images for a gallery exhibit are going to be different than for a team or publication. When documenting a game for a team, Cain says she is less focused on the artist side and more focused on the speed of getting an image to the marketing team. When she’s focused on telling a story or creating art it’s different. “Then there is gallery style,” she explains. “It's like it's a work of art – what’s going to capture attention or what's going to draw the viewer in to look at the photographs? So there’s a little bit more to play with. In my opinion you can go wide, you can do a super tight crop, or just be playful. I always love a super tight crop because it actually draws you into the details.”

Arranging The Images With Intention

An additional piece to creating an exhibit is how the images are hung and how they work with one another a major consideration of Cain’s while curating this one. “You can have a whole bunch of random images with completely different styles, but they all can sing together once they're on a wall if they're placed in their unique desired locations.”

This consideration certainly comes from Cain’s background in graphic design. Cain showcases her own work in interesting ways whenever she can. A great example of this can be seen on her Instagram, where she’s not afraid to layer images on top of another, overlap them on carousel posts, and sequence them into a narrative arc.

“Graphic design and photography go hand in hand, right? You know, photography is its own graphic element to a certain degree. And you can use those graphic elements or color to your advantage when displaying work. I think people get sidetracked or nervous to stack images on top of each other or whatever, but as long as it's intentional, it can be great.”

Photo by Krystina Brown. Sony Alpha 9. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/500-sec., f/3.5, ISO 64

As we continued to discuss how images work together, in any context, be it an exhibit or Instagram or a web portfolio, Cain talked about being selective with images. “For online, I usually download maybe 20 to 25 images and only use 13. Sometimes it's just a thing of what goes together. ‘Oh, this doesn't go or this color palette is a little bit off.’ I’m trying to make sure it shows the whole story or gives a good overview. It’s a little different for this event but some of the considerations are the same. Even though the images are by different photographers, we’re still sharing a message.”

In this instance, it’s particularly special that the space itself is part of the narrative. The Sports Bra has been working to create an inclusive space for women in sports and this exhibit goes beyond that by adding inclusivity within sports photography. The collaboration works to grow the community and highlight talented black female sports photographers. And it’s not unnoticed that this is taking place in Portland, Oregon, which Cain describes as “one of the whitest cities in America.” 

The exhibition will be open June 16-June 30 at the Sports Bra bar and many of the prints will be for sale. Learn more and stay informed on the exhibit by following the Sports Bra on Instagram (@thesportsbrapdx). And be sure to follow Amanda on Instagram (@AmandaJCain) as well to see what incredible work she continues to do with her photography and her community!

Complete list of photographers featured in the One Of One Exhibit:

Lucy Baptiste - @flicks_by_lucy

Krystina Brown - @krystinagabrielle

Amanda J. Cain - @amandajcain

Zoe Davis - @zoedavisphoto

Kyeese Hollands - @kyshots_

Ciara Ingram - @ciaraingram

Elsie Kibue-Ngare - @ek13_photos

Liv Lyons - @_livlyons

Madison McNary - @sidelinesnapshots

Lensi Photography - @allyallpdx

J. Pamela Stills - @jpamelastills

Annie Schutz - @annieschutz

Tiffany “OhheyTiff” Thompson - @_ohheytiff

Dominique Whittaker - @dcwhittaker

Yanissa X - @yanissa_x