When I was a child, I played on the asphalt, in the round concrete park at the bottom of my street. We had a routine: whoever juggled the most won. Sliding the ball with the outside of the foot to perform a roulette.
On the fenced-in courts at my school, we did “around the world.” Don’t miss the basket. We’d rush to the three-point line and get stuck there. We’d throw the ball with both hands, a brick bouncing off the backboard.
The first time I played tennis, I must have been 13 or 14. My racket was too heavy for my weak arms. I was on a court in Tamatave, not far from the beach. The coach was teaching me how to put topspin on the ball, how to make it spin when I hit it. I had no technique. He showed me the forehand loop, how to release the wrist, how to finish the motion. He tossed the balls to me by hand. I tried to mimic the players I admired: Marcelo Ríos, Michael Chang. It looked so easy when they did it.
When I arrived in Madagascar, I was still uncertain about the direction this project would take. I was drawn more to individual sports and wanted to focus on capturing body movements. I also sought a sport that was nearby and accessible, and paradoxically, tennis turned out to be right behind my house. With courts scattered throughout the city, I roamed from 67ha to Ivato, meeting players, as well as the people who maintained the courts and the ball boys. I spoke with everyone who revolved around the yellow balls that no longer bounced.
These courts became my photographic playground—the little details, the faces straining with effort, the frustrations, the imperfections that force you to adapt. Not hitting the ball exactly where you want, forgetting the sweet spot, that elusive idea of the perfect hit. Learning to play on a broken-down court, full of false bounces, where nothing is smooth on the clay. The unpredictability of a ball coming at you too fast pushes you to keep moving—small steps for just one more rally.
About Jean Luc Andrianasolo
Jean Luc Andrianasolo (1983, CH/MG) is a photography graduate from CEPV in Vevey. He specializes in documentary photography, focusing on capturing people in their own context. Since 2012, he has participated in various solo and group exhibitions. In 2015, he was selected for the Festival Voies-Off in Arles and the vfg Nachwuchsförderpreis. He was also nominated for the Prix Levallois in 2017. In 2019, he was commissioned for the Enquête photographique valaisanne, continuing his work with portraiture.
Thanks to a Pro Helvetia research grant, he returned to Madagascar in 2023 to lead a workshop at the French Institute in Antananarivo. The following year, the same institute invited him to produce work on the theme of sport. His interest focused on tennis, where he photographed not only players but also ball retrievers and tennis equipment. He enjoys focusing on small details, aiming to find ways to make these subjects poetic. He currently lives and works in Geneva while continuing to develop numerous projects in Madagascar. Official website
