Kevin Couliau articulates the beauty of basketball through photographs and films that express the sport's nature, aesthetics, and culture. Inspired by an early love for the game, the Paris-based photographer and filmmaker searches for stories that reveal basketball's impact on individuals and their communities while demonstrating its universality throughout the world.
Couliaus' acute awareness of sociology, urban design, and architecture converge into the composition and content of his works, and in 2012 culminated in the award-winning documentary Doin’ It In The Park, a film exploring New York City's pick-up basketball history, culture, and global influence.
Through his independent publishing house, Asphalt Chronicles, Kevin distills publications celebrating the aesthetics of grassroots basketball culture. In 2022, he revealed Blacktop Memento, fragments of erosion, a collection of 76 playground close-ups studying the game's imprint on these hallowed territories.
When he's not on assignments, Kevin dedicates time throughout the year to Giants Of Africa, a non-profit using basketball to educate and enrich the lives of African youth.
”Blacktop Memento, fragments of erosion”
published by Asphalt Chronicles & Common Practice - 2022
“When Basketball Inspires” - 2021
published by Trajectoire Studio (featured artist)
“The City Game” - 2020
published by Rizzoli Electa & MCNY (contributor)
“Asphalt Chronicles #03, Paris” - 2017
published by Asphalt Chronicles
“Asphalt Chronicles #02, Dakar” - 2016
published by Asphalt Chronicles
“Asphalt Chronicles #01, Manila” - 2014
published by Asphalt Chronicles
Hennessy
"French photographer explores a global game's social impact"
Vice
"These are the Most Beautiful Courts in the World"
Emirates Woman
"We talk to legendary basketball photographer Kevin Couliau"
BSTN
"Feed Fam : Kevin Couliau”
Complex
" Bobbito Garcia & Kevin Couliau talk Doin' It In The Park"
Athleta
"Behind The Lights”
Fubiz
”Sphere of Influence by Kevin Couliau”
At the heart of Blacktop Memento is Kevin Couliau’s obsession with playground basketball and its imprint on urban landscapes. An authentic tribute to the outdoor game, this collection of unpublished photos takes us back to the true essence of the game, where everything – asphalt and players – is altered by the countless steps, jumps, and bounces.
Through an archaeological exploration, French photographer Kevin Couliau traces with Blacktop Memento an original cartography of asperities, wrinkles, and color spectra: memories sculpted by the encounters between man and matter.
Blacktop Memento is an independently published book retracing 10 years of photographic archives. Couliau’s first book, entirely printed and fashioned in French workshops using traditional binding techniques, showcases an unprecedented selection of stills produced from his personal archives, a series of 76 playground close-ups collected worldwide for over a decade.
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