Asphalt Chronicles

My quest to explore the depths of playground culture most recently took me to Sénégal, where I had the opportunity to document the local basketball scene twice in May 2014 & 2015. There’s a deep love for sports out there, and the game has a genuine history in the westernmost city of the old world.

Sénégal has many battlefields, mostly outdoors on concrete. In Dakar, where the competition is tough - tough enough to generate NBA caliber athletes such as Makhtar N’Diaye, the first Senegalese player who reached the NBA and played with the Fab Five Michigan. Or Gorgui Dieng from Kébémer, the latest player to reach the big league who was at that time renovating his childhood court and raising funds to improve the quality of the hospital in his hometown.

Throughout my journey, I also met dedicated and passionate people like Amadou Fall, the founder of the SEED project, NBA Champion Boris Diaw with his Babac’ards organization, and individuals who are sincerely trying to make a difference by reactivating the game and educating the youth in their communities.

When you purchase the magazine, you also get a screenprint of one photo from Sénégal by French artist Olivier Marescaux.

36 Photographs by Kevin Couliau
36 Pages
+ a screen print of a Kevin Couliau photo by artist Olivier Marescaux
10€ + Shipping

Asphalt Chronicles, Issue 01+02 Reissue [sold out]
Double magazine, 96 pages

Numéro 01, Manila
40 pages
Originally released in 2014
24 photos, 5 playgrounds
Texts by Bobbito Garcia & Banjo Albano

Numéro 02, Dakar
56 pages
Originally released in 2016
Featuring Makhtar Ndiaye, Boris Diaw, Gorgui Dieng,
Amadou Gallo Fall and more than 10 iconic playgrounds.

20 € + shipping

“ The Concrete Pack “

This concrete sleeve holds a unique piece of basketball culture, an archaeological tribute to the game and its battlefields. Through 76 photographs, Blacktop Memento celebrates the textures, colors, and erosion provoked by countless runs, bounces, and crossovers. Memories sculpted by the encounters between man and matter captured throughout the world these past 15 years. Entirely manufactured in French workshops, this independently published book and limited-edition sleeve resurrect past playground recollections.

— A limited-edition sleeve built from an ultra-resistant and unique blend of concrete and fiberglass25.6 x 18.7 x 3.6 cm

— Signed copy of Blacktop Memento, fragments of erosion 156 pages hardcover book printed on 135g/m2 Novatech satin paper using CMYK + fluorescent Pantone 812c + 803c + 801c inks.23.5 x 18 x 1.7 cm

— A 44 pages booklet printed on 60g/m2 Elementa white paper using  CMYK inks.16,7 x 12.5 cm

Published by Asphalt Chronicles & Common Practice
Edition of 1.000 + 76 limited edition concrete sleeves

ISBN 978-2-9578485-0-8

ALL ORDERS FOR THE USA & AMERICAS WILL BE PROCESSED BY COMMON PRACTICE.

” The Book ”

At the heart of Blacktop Memento is Kevin Couliau’s obsession with playground basketball and its imprint on urban landscapes.Through an archaeological exploration, the French photographer 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.

76 photos
Preface by Kevin Couliau
Foreword by Jesse Washington
160 pages + a 44 pages insert explaining the printing process.
Book dimensions & weight : 23.7 x 17.8 x 1.8 cm / 750 gr

Edition of 1.000
Published by Asphalt Chronicles & Common Practice

Printed in France on 135gr/m2 Novatech satin paper using traditional CMYK inks mixed with fluorescent pigments Pantone 812c + 803c + 801c.

Printed on a Heidelberg Speedmaster CS 92 and assembled by hands at Atelier Bulk ( Bordeaux, France ).

ISBN 978-2-9578485-0-8

ALL ORDERS FOR THE USA & AMERICAS WILL BE PROCESSED BY COMMON PRACTICE.

In order to understand the French capital's deep history, we had to sit down with the very pioneers of this movement. Names like Moustapha Sonko, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, and Amara Sy, amongst others, still resound from their exploits at the pro-level but most importantly, from the impact they had on the asphalt throughout the country.

The coexistence with organized basketball has not always been easy for some like Samuel Nadeau or Sacha Giffa, but undeniably, the playground raised them, built their character, toughened their game, and taught them the winning spirit. Women like Diana Gandega or Rym Chaouche are the perfect example of this passage through the school of hard knocks to earn their spot and silence the machos.

The court can be a place of socialization and a rallying point. Whether it’s in Pigalle through the initiatives of Stephane Ashpool, or Arthur Oriol in the 14th arrondissement, the basketball movement, and its dynamism has helped galvanize the youth with the positive virtues of sport. When considering the entire city of Paris as a whole, there are hundreds of locations loaded with basketball history.

Stalingrad, Champs de Mars, Père Lachaise, Luxembourg… Cultural epicenters that unfortunately fade away over time due to global politics underrating the benefits of sport in urban areas.

Today, initiatives such as the Quai 54 tournament, court renovations, or the creation of indoor facilities such as Hoops Factory vividly contribute to the rise of the basketball movement in the city of lights.

58 Photographs by Kevin Couliau
9 Interviews
72 Pages