Interpretive Commentary 1: The Mirror Image, by Gregory Fried

This photograph is emblematic for the Mirror of Race project as a whole.
It depicts two young men of apparently different races — a black man and a white man — confronting each other in a boxing stance. They pose as opponents in what was a notoriously bloody and dangerous sport of the period: bare-knuckle boxing. This violent sport seems a ready metaphor for race relations not just of that era but for most of American history: we see them poised on the brink of combat, defenses ready, prepared to attack.
And yet the antagonists mirror each other, or more correctly, they pose themselves identically: each facing the other, with right leg forward, right arm out to block, left hand back at the chest, ready to strike. Their outstretched arms overlap, and we now see that the photographer has composed them in such a way their entire stance forms a unitary image with striking symmetry. 

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