Players In a New Game

When photographing the first UC game of the 2021 football season, I couldn't help but notice a keen resemblance between the players and spectators On the field to those of a different kind of game; a board game.

Perhaps it was the vantage point, given that I was viewing them from one of the highest points in the stadium. Perhaps the resemblance could be owed to the stark mid-day September sun, which cast a harsh shadow upon the figures. Or perhaps it was the still-life quality taking effect before my very eyes; real people captured mid-action, perpetually frozen as such in a digital imagery format.

I suspect it resulted from a mix of the three, and that that combination allowed for such stark depictions paralleling another gaming platform in the midst of one such live action. I was intrigued how the players summoned images of pawns in my mind, even as they scurried about the field in real time.

As I looked around, I was quick to notice that even those fans in the sidelines bore the same familiarity with the motionless place markers of 'Monopoly' or 'Sorry!' as though if I only reached out my hand, I could pick them up and form such a game myself!