Beyond 22 players

Fanlin Kong

kongfanlin2021@163.com

As the world's most popular sport, football is not merely a competitive event but also a breeding ground for various cultural phenomena. Traditional sports photographers usually focus their lenses on the superstars on the field and the moments of scoring goals. However, football is not confined to the 90 minutes of the match. The composition of a formal football game is like a grand festival, actually relying on a vast social and cultural network. So for this shooting theme, I focused the camera on various seemingly insignificant characters, objects or rituals… It's precisely these details, along with the 22 players that together constitute the complete experience of football culture.