Visual artist Maurice van Es’ project ScannedFootballPhotos (2019-ongoing) lives
as a moving archive of over 10,000 scans of football images from the 80s and 90s.
The first edition in his ongoing series zooms in on the family structure--prompted
by his own journey into fatherhood, as well as his relationship with his own father,
Maurice searches for vulnerability and honesty within male-to-male relationships.
Throughout the book, Maurice shows that football, outside of being a culturally-significant
phenomenon and a cherished sport, can also function as a medium for inciting
discussions about wider social and cultural issues, such as our relationship to
media and its immediacy. The pictures that Maurice selects deconstruct the
myth of football as a star system, focusing rather on the very personal and human
stories behind the matches. Emphasising the little things, the book shares stories
relating to fatherhood, relationships, wealth (or the lack thereof), fame, despair,
love and passion.