Bertoli, the Swiss born photographer began shooting abandoned tennis courts ten years ago, after stumbling upon one around the town where he grew up, near the border of Italy. The rustic and often unkempt quality of these courts speaks a different language than those found in the tidy backyards of Palm Beach or Beverly Hills. Regardless, the spirit that belies these still life portraits is a history of the simplicity of the game. One can almost picture families at play, just rackets, balls and a net atop these grass and clay courts. Bertoli’s photos, perhaps because of the regional terrain, don’t exude country club or technological advances, just a serene beauty of outdoor games. Somehow La Dolce Vita comes to mind. We thought they captured a side to the game that we hadn’t seen, yet still grabbed our attention.

Where are you from?

From an Italian father and Swiss mother,  I grew up in Switzerland.

How old are you?

43

How did the images for ‘Tennis Courts’ begin?

I started photographing empty tennis courts in 1999 in southern Switzerland, on the border of Italy. The work came about by chance. Some time after I’d moved to Paris, I was back in Switzerland, walking in the woods near were I grew up and I came across an abandoned tennis court. I photographed that one, then courts around the neighbourhood where I grew up, and have continued to photograph deserted tennis courts ever since. In general I think about images from my adolescence and also think of the visual experiences I’ve had with film as an experience of real life.

Where are most of these courts?

It is hazardous, I found the places through my displacements, the tennis courts sometimes were near the place were I was staying during my “visiting”… I took photos in Switzerland, France (Paris, Normandy), London, New York, Egypt, Spain (Andalucia), Italy (Naples, Capri), Dominican Republic.

What inspired you to make this book for Nieves?

I liked the publisher’s work.

How did you connect with them?

I met Benjamin Sommerhalder from Nieves last year at the Swiss Art Center in Paris, he had a presentation/show of his books.

Do you play tennis?

Sometime

Are you athletic? Just an enthusiast?

Sometime both…

You also shot a series called ‘Swimming Pools’, how did these come about?

It came about in Switzerland, the swimming pools were supposed to replace the sea…

Is sports/activity an inspiration?

No.

What makes ‘Tennis Courts’ and ‘Swimming Pools’ so unusual is that these landscapes seem abandoned. Do you think these courts/pools are just for status, or are they used?

The desert tennis courts photographs are like still-lifes, nature mortes. In the cities, in the nature. You see all the seasons through this work too and I think it’s good. When you look at them all together perhaps you don’t see a series of photos perhaps you see a film. To me it’s a landscape’s subject : with the chromatism, the fence, the trees, all the ambience, the tennis courts have the structures of a classic landscape. In a way, it’s the same for the swimming pools…

You were part of a group show called ‘A Beautiful Game’ in NY, tell me your thoughts on sports and art.

There are no sports epics, or important sports artists, writers, or composers. There are sports movies, sports magazines, sports channels, sports museums, sports coliseums, and sportswear is the preferred clothing of countless millions. But why no sports art?

In 1896 the Olympics were reconvened. Since then, sports has became an industry, a religion, a way of life. So where’s the art?

My friend Franklin Sirmans who co-curated the Beautiful Game show in 2006 once wrote a short text called “Notes  On Sport and Art” perhaps you can find it on the web.

Do you have any other ‘sports’ series like these coming?

No, these were never ‘sports’ series to me.

Giasco Bertoli – ‘Tennis Courts’ is out now on Nieves. You can purchase it here.