Femminile

(adj, feminine, female. The word is normally used on its own in Italian to distinguish the female team of a club from the men’s)

As Sofia – one of my closest friends – is part of the team, the project started as casual portraits of her on and off the field. This naturally developed into a more complex experience as in March 2019 I got the chance to follow the team during the retreat before its last Six Nations match of the year.

Trying to get away from typical sports photography, I’m not focusing much on the game per se, but I give more attention to small gestures, objects, rituals; mixing portrait, landscape and still life to convey an intimate image of the women that are part of the team and celebrating their differences, their strength, and resilience in a game that is typically considered for men and where women players are ofter stereotyped as masculine.

This first series stands alone, capturing a memorable result for Italy, as the team won its last match against France, ranking second in the tournament for the first time in history.