Abstract of the accomplished photographic work
The First Time is a long-term project aimed at exploring football and the way it shapes culture, landscape and society in nations who participate for the first time in a major international tournament.
Rather than focusing on the game or the players, The First Time uses football as a lens to look at topics such as politics, architecture, labour, youth policies, climate change, ethnic and racial conflict, identity building and gender equality, in different countries around the world.
At the moment, The First Time consists of two installments. The first one was realized in Iceland ahead of Russia 2018: among other things, it touches upon the challenges posed by playing football in an extreme climate. The second one was executed in North Macedonia ahead of EURO 2020 and analyzes the role played by the national team in gluing together a nation still divided by profound ethnic tensions.
Installation shot
Description of the project you intend to pursue through the Prize
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place between November and December, in Qatar. It’s the first time that both an Arab nation hosts the most prestigious sports competition in the world and the Qatari national team takes part in it.
In “The First Time – Qatar”, the contrast between Qatar’s largely deserted landscape and Doha’s contemporary architecture will function as a visual allegory of a country characterised by deep contradictions: between extreme wealth and utter poverty, forward-looking attitude and obscurantist practices.
Both in the making of the project and in the exhibition that will follow, landscape photography of the futuristic stadiums that the government rushed to build – exploiting thousands of migrant workers from the Indian sub-continent – will be juxtaposed with portraits of fans, coaches, young footballers and people involved each in their own way in the run-up to a sports event that will consolidate the Qatari identity, both within and beyond the national borders.