The Beautiful Game

A Portrait Portfolio

Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer of the 1970’s.

So much of my career has involved images of sport. I am not a super fan of any one sport, but I am in awe of the excellence and prowess that athletes embody. The collective connection that fans share through sport has always interested me as a subject. The World Cup being in Canada has inspired this tour through my portrait portfolio.

My first experience with the event of a World Cup was in Paris in 1998. We were leaving Paris for Amsterdam the day of the first game at Parc des Princes. We had been invited to watch the match, Germany vs. U.S.A. at KesselsKramer’s office in Amsterdam, a communication agency housed in a former Catholic Church. The floor space had been divided with yellow tape, with a single chair on one side and rows of chairs on the other. The only German who worked at the agency sat alone cheering on her team, while all the Dutch and us 2 Canadians cheered for the U.S., the Germans won.

Sketching during Colombia vs DR Congo

Toronto is hosting its final game of the 6 held here, next week. I have spent a lot of time watching games, and no, I haven’t paid the ridiculous ticket prices to see a game here. I know this tournament is about money, and advertising, and way too much sports betting. But, it is also about incredible athletes, great stories, national pride, and competition that doesn’t end in bloodshed but shared hope- - there is always 4 years from now. Having a fairly low stakes burst of national pride is not a bad thing, especially with the exuberant example the Scottish supporters exhibited in Boston and Miami.

Eight by Eight magazine | Portrait of Romelu Lukaku

I have done images of so many different sports throughout my career, but my portraits of football stars are some of my favourites. The portrait above of Lukaku is the culmination of about 5 different media approaches I explored to express his incredible physical force of nature. I was commissioned by the LATimes Sports section to do 2 cover pieces welcoming David Beckham to the LA Galaxy, I worked for Coca Cola on a 2010 World Cup campaign for South Africa, and did a portrait of the Portuguese player Rafael Leaõ for Apple News for the World Cup in 2022.

Eight by Eight magazine | Kylian Mbappé and Neymar

This portrait was done in 2017, when 18 year old Kylian Mbappé signed with Paris Saint-Germain and his rising star overshadowed his Brazilian teammate, Neymar. Mbappé has started with 4 goals in 2 games in this World Cup and will likely be a dominant force for his French team in the tournament.

I have to finish off my football portrait portfolio with the iconic Frenchman ‘King Eric’—Eric Cantona. A football legend with Manchester United in the 1990’s, he is also an actor and star of my favourite soccer commercial of all time—2002/Nike’s ‘Secret Tournament’, directed by Terry Gilliam, with a remixed version of Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation”.

GO! Canada GO!