the A game

LET'S START WHAT WE HAVE COME INTO THE ROOM TO DO



Photography by Andrew Dosunmu
A pic of a photograph by Andrew Dosunmu

One of my favorite images from the book, this is from the Cameroon v Egypt match in Yaoundé, October 2005. It was the final WC qualifying round for the group, and the match ended in a draw. No winner, no loser, which meant neither team—both of them continental powerhouses—would play the following summer in Germany. At the time i think i made a big deal out what it meant to have a game with no winners and no losers but to soccer fans it's not such a big deal i suppose.

The main thing about this photo, though, is the way in which it's a large scale assemblage of African heads—and of course African bodies, brains, hearts and minds. But look at all the faces, all of them so different, each one telling a different story, not just its song of the self but also whatever story you think it's telling you when you see the faces. Like when you go into some of these cribs out here and a couple got like mad african masks all on the wall, like yeah check out all my masks. except alive. and living.