fastcodesign.com | Original Article | by Sammy Medina

A Paris-based photographer shows the character of heartbreak in the post-game of basketball hoops.

Few things say neglect quite like an unhinged, bent up, rusty-peely netless basketball hoop. It’s a sad sight, often evoking more than its own decay. The weathering, though, does hold great documentary appeal, as Paris-based photographer Adrian Skenderovic illustrates.

His “Lost Hoops” series catalogs the ramshackle basketball courts of Southeast Asia. (He likes to keep the exact locations a secret.) The structures--some made from concrete and plexiglass, others out of riffraff--are in a sorry state. They’re covered in grime, soiled by water stains, and, in some cases, completely lacking a hoop at all.

Despite appearances, however, these courts remain in frequent use, Skenderovic tells Co.Design. “Those hoops looks neglected, but in reality people are still playing with them, even with the most tired ones. They’re still an essential institution in the local community.”

That last point touches on what makes these basketball posts so poignant. In nearly all parts of the world, in neighborhoods of every level of poverty to wealth, you’ll find some kind of a sports court. Whether it’s snazzy and new or makeshift, it represents a coming together of the community--a place to compete, hang out, hash it out. When the community falters or fractures, it shows in the environment, including its basketball hoop. Read More...