Die Faszination Fußball kennt keine Grenzen, keine Altersbeschränkung, keine Religionszugehörigkeit, keine Nationalität. Fußball wird einfach gespielt und das überall auf der Welt.
Mehr als 100 Länder hat Caio Vilela bereist und in jedem dieser Länder hat er Kinder gesucht und beim Fußballpielen gefunden. Daraus entstanden ist eine beeindruckende Sammlung von Straßenfußballbildern
Zu sehen ist die Arbeit »Straßenfußball« jedenfalls ab Ende Mai in der großen Gruppenausstellung »One World« während des Umweltfotofestivals »Horizonte Zingst« – zusammen gestellt von Kurator Klaus Tiedge (Erlebniswelt Fotografie Zingst) und Co-Kuratorin Edda Fahrenhorst (fotogloria).
Alle Bilder aus der Ausstellung und noch ein paar mehr können Sie übrigens über die fotogloria-Bilddatenbank lizensieren – bitte HIER entlang.
WHAT
Project Football Without Borders was born by accident in 2003 during an assignment trip in central Iran. After taking picture of kids playing football in the main square of Yazd I had the spark: from now on, I will keep my eyes open for street football kids out there. As I travel very often on journalism assignments or guiding groups, I had the chance of seeing and shooting street football in several places.
WHERE
So far I have pictures of street football in more than 100 countries (all continents plus Antarctica) and in all 27 brazillian states.
WHY
Soccer happens. Not only in Brazil but all over the world. Every single day, anywhere, at anytime. It doesn’t choose its players based on religion or race. Far from the football match on our TV screen, the World Cup events and the championships of the mega-sponsors with their billions of dollars competitions, there’s another – and more truthful – football: the football played by children on any open field. To me these images shows unique shining moments of unknown weekend players in action on golden days to some people’s childhood or youth.
What fascinates me most about the set of images chosen for this exhibition is that I have registered golden moments of some anonymous talented kids. All these boys and girls have now an opportunity to shine in these enlargements, just like they shine every single day in a dirt pitch, away from the eyes of a talent scout. The plays displayed in these prints are the result of pure chance. They are here because there was a photographer in that pitch at the very moment they were playing.
On any given improvised squad, gathered in the hit of the moment just for fun, there was a boy that in near future will no longer live close to that field. Another one will start to work and probably will stop playing. They will all grow up. Maybe some of them will keep playing together for some years. Maybe some of them will turn into professional footballers. But there’s no way that the same game, with the same plays and players will ever repeat themselves the same way and on the same ground, like in the day I took their pictures.
Imagine how many brilliant goals Tostão, Pelé, Zico or Ronaldo must have scored as kids on an improvised dusty pitch with no TV cameras there to show the world.
I wish I had seen those guys playing during their childhood and had the chance to register their shine with the same vibe I felt while photographing what you see in this exhibition.
HOW
My method is simple: I ride around (on a taxi, rental car or bycicle) at 5pm, loking for kids with football jerseys. Then I ask where there may be people playing (in late afternoon there is always people playing! You can fly me to arctic Russia and I’ll be able to find the football kids!). Then, if the match is already happenning by the time I arrive at the football pitch, I just ask permission for the goalkeeper, sit on th ground and wait for the action to happen in front of my lens. If it is a serious match, I keep myself out of the field limits. If it a fun kids game, I feel confortable to get inside and take closer shots.
I approach the pitch like an eager striker and nervous as a defender, willing to see the ball being kicked towards the goal like a forward. At the end of the match, I am sweating and covered in dust, feeling like a player who has just scored a goal.
Taking pictures during a soccer match is at the same time similar and totally opposite of photographing a dance presentation: both are an exercise of agility, timing and blending in with the environment, with no interference. During a ballet, the lens points to a small limited space, where choreographed predictable moves will take place. While in a soccer pitch, action is everywhere. Anarchy and improvisation runs the show and that can drive dizzy the most experienced photographer. You have to foresee the right moment to press the button, predict when one body unblock the sight of another, in that split second when productivity struggles against the clock.
Just like dancers, amateur soccer players will probably not run, jump, fall on the ground and bring out their bodies best performance for more than one hour. Whenever I come across a thrilling spontaneous match, I have to run and hopefully produce two or three really good pictures. You can never tell if that game has just started or is about to come to an end.
P.S.: Die großartigen Fußballbilder von Caio Vilela sind 2015 in einem Buch zusammengefasst unter dem Titel »Straßenfußball« im Spielmacher-Verlag erschienen – mehr Infos gibt es HIER.