Ground From Above

Clin d’oeil pour « Terrão de Cima », une excellente série de photos aériennes shootées par le photographe brésilien Renato Stockler qui a souhaité rendre hommage aux terrains de football urbains situés au coeur des favelas.

Plus de détails en images dans la galerie

Description originale

A “terrao » is an oasis in the urban landscape. The reddish tone of a soccer field turns into a stage for the resistance of popular soccer. These fields are increasingly rare to see because of property speculation and land occupation.

Some of them have their own football clubs, while others are publics spots. Some of them are mainly dirt, while others are of sand, rests of weathered grass. But they are a breath for the hard daily life of those who lives in the outskirts of Sao Paulo. These fields show the urgency for public and communal places to practice sports, a portrait of those who fights for leisure in a city as Sao Paulo. Colored and powerful in face of the greyish scenario, these fields are a solid basis of soccer’s spirit in Brasil.

It’s not hard to find friends, relatives, adults and children cheering together for their local teams. Even through social and political difficulties, a “terrao » shows us the real soccer, far away from a society mediated by powerful media groups. The rawness of a “terrao »can’t be fitted as a media spectacle.

Credits photos & copyright Renato Stockler