"Courts": Abandoned Sports Grounds

EVERY DAY PHOTOGRAPHERS AROUND THE WORLD looking for new ways to tell stories or to capture what we previously did not notice. We choose interesting photo projects and ask their authors what they wanted to say. This week is the "Courts" series of Australian photographer Ward Roberts (we recommend subscribing to his instagram), who traveled around the world in search of beautiful, minimalistic and empty sports fields - left to themselves, deprived of their function and by the very lack of action reminiscent of for what they are created.

Sports grounds are spaces subject to two extremes: while playing, they are shaken by jumps and blows of players, but the rest of the time they are empty, immersed in their loneliness. Nowadays, most of the charm and grandeur of athletic fields lies in their minimalist spirit. Abandoned by people, they become plastic space, more attracting the eyes of the photographer or artist than the athlete. Created exclusively for use by people, the sites sometimes become their victims: they are painted with graffiti by street artists - all because the dry beauty and functionality of these spaces seems to many not sufficiently expressive. The courtyards in the eyes of the majority fade away and in comparison with stadiums - the spaces on which sport becomes a show.

Work on this project took four years: these are pictures of sites scattered around the world, from the pastel sleeping districts of Hong Kong to the quaint London courtyards. I grew up in Hong Kong, and my perception and style was strongly influenced by its color palette and the uniformity of the urban landscape. New York is certainly no less an inspiring city, but you feel much more keenly in it how difficult it is to do something unique when there are so many incredibly talented people around.

In a sense, this project is in tune with the photo album of Parisian Jasco Bertoli, who documented abandoned tennis courts scattered around European suburbs and villages. Only here, on the contrary, such spaces are clamped by the urban environment. I deliberately made the decision to shoot on film, since digital photography seems soulless to me and does not cause an emotional response.