The Only Thing More Beautiful Than Tennis? Its Courts
Tennis has been an aesthetic muse for how many years? About time that its courts also got a moment in the sun.
Parisian photographer Karl Hab's latest photobook is a visual love letter to the linear layouts of tennis courts.
Across 136 pages, Hab's Tennis Courts presents aerial shots of different courts shot with Hab's keen eye for architectural layouts and deep appreciation for the sport.
Clearly, Hab fancies himself a big tennis fan if he’s willing to make an entire book about the courts that host its games.
But despite his illustrated love for the game, Hab says this book is more about capturing the energy around the courts.
"This project is less about the game than the atmosphere it creates," said Hab.
Absent any players, racquets or fuzzy yellow balls, Hab’s Tennis Courts offers a personal and unobstructed view of tennis courts that reframes them as abstracted zones of lines, panels, paint, and netting. But beyond presenting a literal birds-eye view of the geometric intersections that comprise the world’s tennis courts, Tennis Courts also offers a crystal clear insight into Hab's creative vision.
"True to my work, this book is a photographic exploration, an artistic tribute to the beauty of tennis environments," said Hab.
Finding the beauty in environments is Hab’s strong suit. From Paris Fashion Week to the streets of Los Angeles, Hab maximizes the natural visual intrigue of everything he captures instead of focusing on overly orchestrated and staged photos. He lets the photos do the talking.
Naturally, tennis falls under this creative umbrella. Hab has shot beaucoup tennis content including a few mid-game flicks of sports legend Roger Federer, who has really been in his fashion bag lately.
Tennis’ endless stylistic inspiration is currently omnipresent, stretching from Challengers to fashion editorials.. And fair enough: that preppy athleisure shtick is undefeated. But now the courts have become the muse of the hour.
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