La Jornada: Annie Leibovitz seeks to portray the person behind the footballer

The photographer Annie Leibovitz (United States, 1949), a current and historical reference in her discipline, inaugurated the exhibition yesterday Futbol 2026: Annie Leibovitz, installed in the National Museum of Anthropology (MNA). The director of the venue, Antonio Saborit, and representatives of the organizing foundations were present at that event.

For this exhibition, the artist portrayed soccer players performing movements, running, push-ups or dance poses and diving to catch the ball on dirt fields. In addition, a photo taken in 1981 of the bare feet of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé, is recovered, which appear stained with mud, which invites reflection on the poverty origins of several players.

“I love remembering that occasion, because I was taking photos with Pelé to advertise some sports shoes, and I asked him if I could take a photo of him barefoot. The representative of the brand got upset and refused, but Pelé took off his tennis shoes and said that, when he was a child, his only shoes were the ones he was born with. That portrait says a lot about him,” he said.

He also creates a dialogue between today and the ancient pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican ball game with the retrospective of the photos he captured in 1986, where he captured emblematic archaeological sites, such as the ancient Toltec city of Tula, in Hidalgo, and the pyramids of Chichén Itzá, in Yucatán. These images are accompanied by texts by the writer Juan Villoro.

“Thanks to Mexico that brings me to watch soccer again; it is wonderful. I see this work as something democratic and different from what I did in 1986. I am amazed to see how much this country loves this sport; there is no place or town that does not have a soccer field. It has been 40 years since the last time and I have changed, now I am much more interested in people and portraits. That is what I want to see: people,” he stated.

three moments

The exhibition is divided into three modules: the first consists of the 13 photographs he took for the second World Cup that Mexico hosted; In the second, there is a review of the most emblematic pieces in his 50 years of work and in the last, the images he captured of prominent figures from the sports event are observed. Guillermo Ochoa, Raúl Jiménez and Edson Álvarez, among others, passed through his lens.

“This time I want you to think about the people who play, that’s why they are portraits. Soccer makes us believe that they are warriors, heroes, brothers in arms, poets and wonderful human beings.

“I want to continue this project after the games are over. Holding a meeting like this is impressive with everything that is happening in the world; although I can’t talk about politics, I am very sorry for what is happening here because of things over there,” she said, referring to the United States.

In 1986, Leibovitz took iconic photographs that were later exhibited in prestigious venues, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In them you can see the Tula giants reflecting the shadow of a soccer player and Chac Mool with a ball in his lap, as well as a man sitting on the ball in the jungle, among others.

“When I came for the first time for that series I worked with the idea of ​​making posters, which was not at all my style. I also thought I was doing photojournalism, but no. It took me many trips to learn what I really wanted. Even today I feel that ‘he who covers a lot doesn’t squeeze much,’ that we are just getting started.

“A fundamental theme is poverty; many players come from it, but there is also their way of keeping the essence of the game alive and, at the same time, being interested in improving their quality of life; it is very interesting. It is not so much about what is delivered on the playing field, where I think they are poets, but also about reflecting: ‘what is your goal as a player?’, ‘what do you want to achieve?’ But we cannot doubt that they play with their heart.”

He highlighted the importance of photojournalism, an activity that he praised, and assured that today it is “at its strongest moment.”

She stated that if she could be in a position today, she would certainly exercise it. “I was never very good, because I have very strong points of view and to do so you have to be more neutral.

“You’re supposed to be objective, although of course no one is, but we see how photography has re-emerged as a language. A decade ago they asked me if this discipline was dead; today we see that it is stronger than ever. These kids even risk losing their lives.”

Representatives from Televisa, Coppel and Diez Morodo, organizing foundations, also attended the opening of the exhibition.

Futbol 2026: Annie Leibovitz It will open today and conclude on August 30 at the MNA (Paseo de la Reforma avenue and Gandhi road s/n, Chapultepec Polanco neighborhood, Miguel Hidalgo mayor’s office).

Access costs 210 pesos for the general public and 105 for national visitors and foreigners residing in Mexico with identification.