In 2021, when I was unable to return to Hong Kong to finish photographing its basketball courts, I began shooting courts in New York City. They were different in color, surroundings, and ubiquity, but had their own charm, with worn surfaces and clear signs of constant use. In the years since, I have returned and photographed all 2,082 outdoor basketball courts across the five boroughs.
Together, these photographs offer a different way of seeing the city, from its most famous courts to small neighborhood playgrounds. Each shares the same basic geometry, but its colors, markings, and surroundings give it a character of its own. This is a selection from the completed project. A selection of these photographs has also been displayed at Nike’s flagship store in Times Square and Foot Locker's NYC corporate headquarters.
The image below is the culmination of the project. It brings together top-down aerial photographs of every full-size court in a single grid, arranged by color from left to right and by brightness from the center toward the top and bottom. View the grid in full detail and identify each individual court at this interactive page and buy limited edition prints of it here.
Selected head on shots from ground level
Selected scenes from the five boroughs
