A point guard has to have good vision and the ability to see shots that others don’t. That’s one of the things that sets Marquise Pointer apart on the court as a point guard for the men’s basketball team.
It’s also what sets him apart off the court.
The senior studio art major is an accomplished photographer, and his senior thesis – six photographs of three student-athletes in uniform and in “civilian clothes” – was on display at the Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts during the fall semester. The subjects appear fully lit, but are surrounded by a darkness, an unknown. They seem in their own world – perhaps because few peers grasp the duality of a student-athlete.
“I wanted to show those who may not know much about sports the hard work and the sacrifice of these student-athletes,” say Pointer, who’s a photography intern in the athletics department. “We have to give up the down time that regular students have.”
Impressed by his smartphone photos, Pointer’s AP art teacher first put an SLR camera in his hands his senior year of high school.
“I’ve played basketball ever since I could pick up a ball,” says Pointer. “So it’s really cool that I get to combine my two passions.”
(left to right) Osinachi Smart (men’s basketball), sophomore from Umuahia, Nigeria; Raymara Barreto (women’s soccer), senior from Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Kennedy Madison (volleyball), senior from Evansville, Ind. (Photos by Marquise Pointer)
Featured image: Marquise Pointer in a CofC photography studio. (Photo by Heather Moran)
