The World Cup is touted as the biggest ever, with more countries, matches, and fans. Yet, most people, including myself, experience it through television. Despite Ireland not qualifying, I’ve joined millions watching from home.
FIFA reports that 1.5 billion people watched the World Cup final in 2022. This year’s viewership is expected to surpass that. The focus is often on those attending physically, but it’s primarily a broadcasting event.
Innovative photography captures the spirit of this spectacle. Photographers, not at the stadiums, create unique images from afar. Bilal Aouffen, a Paris-based photographer, achieved this by shooting the screen through a water bag. The pixelated images become abstract, highlighting fleeting moments.
Instagram showcases creative work by artists like Brazilian Gabriel Rolim. Using a Game Boy camera, he creates pixelated animations from TV images. These appear as thermographic memories of World Cup moments. Moroccan photographer Karim Ouakkaha captured Egypt’s goalkeeper, Mostafa Shobeir, in a digitally blurred image. This portrays his despair and the fading hopes of his team.
Jared Soares, from Washington, uses a different approach. He photographs matches on TV, prints them, then crumples and flattens the prints. Scanning these adds tactile depth to his monochrome images, capturing intense emotions of fans and players.