OPEN EDITION GALLERY

Harlem, NY, 2013.

Day after day in Rucker Park a huge show takes place: dozens of kids perform on the most famous playground of New York, perhaps of the United States. Their challenge is double: to play basketball so well that, at some point, a talent scout from the NBA may notice them; and to build a reputation as a ‘great streetballer’, an important achievement on its own. Rucker Park was built by Holocombe L. Rucker in the 50s, a teacher willing to give an alternative to street kids by offering them a place for practicing sport and build a community. Nestled amongst huge buildings, that playground still represents an opportunity, the starting point of a possible future, a career. Rucker Park is a stage for many, and a meeting point for the whole community. In a country where being good at sports can be the access key to some privileges, an area where privileges where never granted becomes the cornerstone of pure competition.