Lines can communicate, geometry can inspire, and in minimalism we can find the purest aesthetic-this explains Australian photographer Chris Caporaso’s lens. In an increasingly confusing and contrived world, his visions elevate the beauty of sporting simplicity, as well as its protagonists and tools. Yet the 37-year-old Melbourne based creative is an active part of athletic complexity. In fact, he divides his time between the day-to-day job as an Australian football match analyst with his photographic production-a crossroads as atypical as it’s fruitful.

“I grew up in Adelaide, and so my earliest sports memories are related to the Formula 1 GPs I watched with my father. I was obsessed with cars; I kept drawing them as a kid. I still have stuck in my mind the names and aesthetics of teams like Benetton and Rothman Williams…. Time led me to become a match analyst for an Australian professional football team. During the pandemic, when we had to isolate ourselves from everyone in order to continue the season, I basically lived with my entire workplace on the Gold Coast for a hundred days. The situation was draining me. So I took the camera with me and started capturing things. I discovered photography as a teenager, and I always took cameras with me on family trips. It wasn’t until 2020 that I realized how much I really needed this outlet: photography is giving me balance in my everyday life and, at the same time, allowing me to develop freelance projects parallel to my ordinary job. Thanks to the lens I can leave football and its chaotic dynamics aside for a few hours, clearing my mind.”

Chris’s visions are the product of an academic and human journey committed to aesthetic taste. Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture and a path in design, Chris’s photographic style is at the intersection of contemporary documentary, social coolness, and fashion vibes connected to the streetwear universe.

“I think my photographic style is always evolving, but it has a consistency. My early studies in design and my interest in architecture are foundations for my visual production. I do love minimal and monochromatic aesthetics. And I also love diving into cultures, representing their uniqueness. I’ve been to New York many times, so there’s a heavy influence there…it’s always been a great source of creative inspiration for me walking around with headphones on, and capture what’s happening on the streets and the down in the subway. My sports photography focuses mostly on Formula 1, tennis and sneakers. I’ve been incredibly lucky to visit the F1 paddock on a few occasions, I kind of just appreciate the cars as art themselves, the aerodynamics and innovation behind them that form aggressive lines and nice curves making them quite photogenic…. The same happens when I watch a tennis match. During a tournament like the Australian Open, the colors and the perfect lines are so aesthetically pleasing, lending itself to interesting compositions. It’s almost poetic to me how that perfect series of lines then forms a shape that a sport with such history is then won and lost between. Sneakers are a lifelong interest of mine and are part of my identity. I’ve spent a lot of time shooting sneakers both for the culture and also some commercially. My all-time favorite pair is the Nike Air Max 1 Atmos Elephants but the sneaker that got me into the culture is the Nike Air Max 90 Infrareds. Right now I’m probably just wearing some New Balance 990s.V6’s in grey. In my photography I want people to feel something through my images. I can be a bit of a minimalist, I like my images to be clean and use depth in a way to direct your eye. I want everything to be aligned, and the colors to compliment each other…. Like most creatives I can be my own greatest critic sometimes”

Now divided between the tactical studies of a unique sport such as Australian football and the development of a creative career, Chris continues in his pursuit of elegant details and essential spaces. “In the last period I have planted a seed both in my head and subconscious,” says the Melbourne based photographer, “I would like to make a definitive transition into the creative world. The football environment is exciting. Helping the team and providing support for players and coaches fulfills me, but I have a dream, or rather a hope, that I can devote myself completely to creativity. Maybe one day it will happen.”