This is an old post from my Tumblr regarding a photography essay devoted to my childhood basketball court.
I was tweeting with a childhood friend of mine about our playground court growing up. It got me inspired to do a photo essay. For the essay, I wanted to capture the feeling of growing up and spending summers on that court. I also wanted my friend to take part in it. He actually runs a sports business that stems from basketball statistics: Legit Stats. Make sure you check them out! I thought it would be good homage to The Court, and could translate to his brand.
It wasn’t the best court. The asphalt was tore up with cracks. Nature was trying to reclaim the grounds with the grass poking through like small wildfire. Broken glass would routinely show up overnight from strangers drinking the night before. There were no lines, so we made our own. Imperfect, but perfect at the same time (we had a square three-point line). It wasn’t the best court, but it was our court.
To my surprise, they renovated the playground next to it, but the court and the asphalt left untouched. If anything the net was new, but it seems like nobody plays here anymore. In the recent times that I would go for a run over here there wouldn’t be any new kids playing. It’s kind of sad, but it just might be a different generation.Maybe they don’t see the beauty in the court like we did/do. There’s so many newer courts, especially nice indoor ones, that are available. I feel like kids are spoiled nowadays and are able to make that choice. I don’t blame them, but it felt good to grow here. Summers at The Court were bliss.
I wanted to capture the grittiness of the court. We aren’t innocent little kids anymore. We. Are. Grown. There’s a funny juxtaposition with the colorfulness of the new playground in the background, and the raw feeling of the unkempt court. It was all smiles as we were going down memory lane, but most of the shoot was mean mugged. It resonates the tough feeling you get from The Court.
It was great going back here, but I’m scared that it’ll eventually get taken down at some point. If that does happen, at least I’ll have these photos to get that nostalgic feeling once again.
