Throughout the years of 2000-03 the award-winning photographer Nicolai Howalt followed young Danish boys boxing in Denmark and abroad. The result is the book 'Boxer'. The book portrays a series of young boxers where Howalt's starting point is to capture the moment before and after the match. A sense of spirit, emotion, expectation and energy characterize the photographs. The double portraits convey the dreams of boyhood, puberty and identity. The boxing match stages a platform for Howalt who otherwise refrains from describing the inner concerns of boxing or the competitive elements of the sport. Boxing becomes a symbol for the match between fear versus courage, dream versus reality. It is also about the age dividing a boy from being a man and to be on your own for the first time.

As a teenager Howalt used to box, and as a consequence he has realized that the moments just before and after the match were the most tantalizing. The American author Edward Bunker (Dog eat dog, Little Boy Blue) has written the preface to the book. The book was published on the 14th October 2003, approximately 100 pages.

Nicolai Howalt 2006