Zack Zublena: Celebrating Paralympic Athletes in Gold for Los Angeles 2028 

Artwork by Zack Zublena, illustrating strength and resilience. Discover the Golden Warrior artwork.

A body tells a story before a single word is spoken. A posture, a gaze or a movement can express determination, vulnerability or confidence. Through his artistic project centered on Los Angeles 2028, Zack Zublena will bring Paralympic athletes into the light of gold, creating portraits that celebrate their individuality, resilience and extraordinary journeys.

The initiative brings together themes that have shaped his work for years: the body, light, identity and the way an image can transform how we see another person.

As Los Angeles prepares to welcome the sports featured in the official LA28 Paralympic Games program, Zublena’s independent artistic project looks beyond sporting results to recognize the people behind the performances: heroes of the Games, and heroes of everyday life.

Gold as a Language Beyond the Medal

In sport, gold immediately suggests victory. In Zack Zublena’s photography, it carries a broader meaning.

The golden surface catches light and reveals the body’s contours: a moment of balance, muscular tension, the curve of a shoulder or the precision of a gesture. It gives a person a monumental presence while retaining the details that make them individual.

The intention is not to reserve that light for medal winners. It is to celebrate victories that cannot always be measured by a podium: rebuilding confidence, pursuing an ambition, moving through adversity and choosing to begin again.

These are victories in life as well as in sport. Each belongs to the person who has lived it.

Gold becomes a shared visual language of recognition, honoring achievement without suggesting that every athlete’s journey follows the same path.

Resilience and a Message of Hope for Humanity

Behind an exceptional performance are years of effort, discipline, uncertainty and persistence. There are moments the public sees, and many more that remain private.

Zublena’s portraits will celebrate that resilience while leaving room for the whole person. Strength can coexist with vulnerability. Determination can be quiet. A remarkable journey can contain humor, doubt, joy and the support of others.

Together, these different lives carry a powerful message of hope for humanity: possibility is not confined to a single kind of body, a single history or a single definition of success.

Their achievements invite us to reconsider what we believe is possible—not only for an athlete, but for ourselves and for one another.

The importance of preserving the person behind the performance also finds expression in the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum’s athlete stories. Zublena’s project will explore that human dimension through the presence and intimacy of fine art photography.

Photographing a Person, Not a Category

An athlete’s portrait can easily become a record of performance or achievement. Zack wants to create another kind of encounter.

What does a person choose to reveal when they step away from competition? How do they want to be represented? What gesture feels like their own?

These questions will guide the creation of the images. Each portrait will make space for individual expression rather than imposing a single story.

Some images may convey power. Others may feel contemplative, joyful or deeply personal. Their meaning will emerge from the encounter between the artist and the person in front of the camera.

Portraiture has long offered this connection between an image and an individual. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery collection, encompassing historical photographs and contemporary media, provides a cultural context for exploring how people are represented, remembered and understood.

The Human Presence Behind the Gold

French-American fine art photographer Zack Zublena began developing his gold photographic language in Los Angeles in 2016.

His images take shape through a physical creative process, combining hand-applied gold-colored body paint, performer direction, composition and carefully controlled lighting. The light is shaped during the photographic session, revealing gesture, texture and the sculptural presence of the human figure.

For this project, that artistic language becomes a way to honor athletes whose lives extend far beyond the public moment of competition.

The resulting works belong to the medium of photography, whose artistic range can be explored through the Getty Museum’s photography collection in Los Angeles. Zublena brings performance, the human form and light together to create images intended to hold attention beyond a first glance.

A Two-Year Journey Around the World

Conceived for Los Angeles 2028, the project will continue through a planned two-year international exhibition tour.

The photographs are intended to travel to galleries, museums and public-facing exhibition spaces around the world, inviting visitors and passersby to pause and look differently at these remarkable individuals.

The ambition is to reach beyond sporting audiences and established art circles. Someone encountering a portrait during an ordinary day may discover a person whose story they have never heard—and leave with a changed perspective.

At a large scale, the images will give everyday gestures a new visibility. A posture, a moment of stillness or an expression of confidence can become an invitation to recognize the human being behind the title of athlete.

The tour will celebrate these individuals as heroes of the Games and of daily life, carrying their presence and message of hope to audiences across countries and cultures. Venues and dates will be announced as the exhibition program develops.

Accessibility will also inform how the public encounters the work. Resources from the Smithsonian’s Office of Visitor Accessibility offer a reference for considering exhibition spaces, programs and content that welcome different audiences.

An Artistic Legacy Beyond Competition

At the heart of the project is a collection of golden portraits celebrating individual lives, resilience and possibility.

The Games provide a moment of international attention. The photographs and their two-year journey will extend that encounter, allowing the people represented to remain visible beyond the competition calendar.

Zack Zublena’s intention is to create more than images of achievement. It is to celebrate people whose victories in life can move us, challenge our assumptions and offer hope—while allowing each person’s story to remain their own.

The project is independently developed by Zack Zublena. It is not presented as an official commission or partnership with the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

To discover his collections or contact the artist about the project, visit ZackZublena.com.