The Highest Pitch by Joao Luiz Bulcao

About the artist

João Luiz Bulcão was born in Brasilia, in 1963. In 1984, before finishing his studies in « Comunicação Social" at the Faculdade da Cidade, in Rio de Janeiro, he spent two months photographing the « Sertão » of Brazil and the result of his work was decisive in the choice of his profession. He began his career as a photojournalist at Manchete magazine, where he travelled for three years in different areas of Brazil and Latin America, always on assignment in socio-economic and environmental issues.

Available works (all unframed)

Holga camera print

• 20x30 inches Edition of 25

• 30x45 inches Edition of 10

About the Series

BRAZIL – THE LAND OF "FUTEBOL" 

Text by João Luiz Bulcão

My earliest childhood memories connected to football ("futebol") date back to the extraordinary 1970 FIFA World Cup Final in Mexico. The match was broadcast live on television in black and white. At the end of the Brazil–Italy final, Pelé's team had claimed its third World Cup title.

I was seven years old. My country was living under a military dictatorship, and the government used the event to foster a sense of national unity and pride. I vividly remember the triumphant homecoming of our champions as they paraded through the avenues of Rio de Janeiro with their arms outstretched in celebration. To commemorate the occasion, my father carefully kept the special editions of Manchete and Fatos & Fotos, magazines whose stories and photographs fueled my imagination.

Twenty-four years later, having become a photojournalist, I found myself covering the arrival of the Seleção in Rio as they proudly displayed their fourth World Cup trophy, won in the United States. Democracy in Brazil was still in its infancy. That same year, I left Brazil to settle first in New York and later in Paris.

Since then, I have returned regularly to Brazil to work on photographic projects, and football has become one of my favorite subjects. Throughout these journeys, I have witnessed men, women, and children of every age playing the game from the country's northernmost regions to its southern tip, and from east to west. Every pass, dribble, and goal—whether successful or missed—brings back memories of my childhood. I photograph football enthusiasts on beaches, in favelas, in the streets, in prisons, in locker rooms, and even on offshore oil platforms. Later, I encounter many of them again in stadiums, no longer on the field but in the stands, passionately supporting their clubs and their heroes.

Those heroes continue to inspire the dreams of countless anonymous players. But how many of them will ever make a living from the game? The realists would say perhaps one in a million will become the next Pelé, Zico, Romário, Ronaldo, Neymar, or another legendary player—figures who all emerged from humble beginnings. For them, football offered a path to a different life. Yet the dream lives on across Brazil, where countless children still hope that one day they, too, will wear the yellow jersey of the national team.

And perhaps the achievements of a few players will help bring another collective victory—one that, if only for a moment, allows an entire nation to forget its more personal and everyday struggles.

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