Mad Lagos, 1999

Thomas Hoeffgen

Afrique football Hoeffgen Lagos

Un mot sur l'oeuvre

( REF : THOE003)
This image comes from «African Arenas », a major photography project produced over a ten-year period by Thomas Hoeffgen. The project tells the story of a continent through its football pitches.
The work has appeared in print many times and was published in 2010 in Germany by the publisher Hatje Cantz. It was awarded a prestigious International Photograpy Award in 2011.

Le témoignage de Thomas Hoeffgen

« I caught the football bug in 1999 when I went to Africa to do a photography feature on the Nigerian player, Jonathan Akpoborie. At the time he was playing for VfB Stuttgart and I was working for the German edition of Playboy. At the last minute he couldn’t make it. I was already in Nigeria and ended up alone in Lagos, his home town.
He felt guilty, so to help me he got one of his oldest friends, who knew his life story, to drive me to all the places he had played football at as a kid and teenager. Not wanting to go home empty-handed, I followed in his footsteps.
It was the beginning of the project and I was still travelling all over the city with my driver looking for the pitches of Jonathan Akpoborie’s childhood.
When we drove by this place I saw the image straight away. I had to insist as my driver didn’t want to stop here, it’s one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in Lagos. Despite that I took my time, choosing the right shot and framing it properly. My driver was furious. It was a decisive image that really set me on my way with the project.

Le choix de Jean-Denis

There’s not much to add, it is quite simply superb. A remarkable portrait of this African supercity.
When you know where it was taken, in one of the toughest neighbourhoods in the city, it clashes with the softness of the pastel colours, making it even better