010. Exploring Sentimentality in the Public Space with Stephen Attong.
In this episode of Riserve (the newsletter), we meet a Toronto-based, Trinidadian photographer whose love for the game is strictly intertwined with his upbringing on the island.
Over the course of the past decade, with the rise of social media, sports photography has massively changed. Images that were once meant for the pages of La Gazzetta dello Sport—or any similar newspaper—found their way to our eyes via different mediums. Innovative channels dedicated to documenting the beautiful started popping up left and right, especially in the past five years. Once dominated by a crows of white haired heads, the lineup of photographers on the sidelines at a match has become more diverse. Women have entered the chat. Clubs and players alike are working with the photographers to editorialize the sport, and sometimes it doesn’t even matter if the photos are blurry. Nowadays, you can show up with a 35mm camera and still be taken serious, even amongst the big grey cannons that contour the pitch in the press section.
Take Giuseppe Romano for example. While the Sicilian photographer may only have been snapping professionally for a few years, he can often be seen at international games with his small, mirrorless camera in hand; shooting images that will appear on the feeds of whatever club or platform hired him on the day. This would have been impossible just a few years ago, when the only way to get your foot in the door would be to work with a big agency like Getty.
Fans and the surrounding culture have also found their way into the mainstream, with pages like Football Campagne or Football Case Study documenting how football permeates life at all levels.
With the upcoming Club World Cup and WC26 in sight, it seems like more and more talent is turning their lens to the grassy fields of football and the crowded bleachers of stadiums worldwide. The trend surely doesn’t seem like it will slow-down any time soon—and thankfully so, as there are way too many football stories that deserve praise. Like today’s protagonist of the newsletter, photographer Stephen Attong.
A long time member of the directory, Stephen is a Toronto-based visual artist whose work explores the sentimentality in public spaces—from amusement parks to quiet moments with friends, hidden beneath playful colors and structures is deep contemplation of shared experiences. Football is no exception.
Player: Stephen Attong
Position: Photography
Homeground: Toronto, Canada
Note: You can find him leading Parkdale Panthers FC on the pitch or having coffee and bagels after a long run.
Hi Stephen. This interview has been delayed long enough and I am so sorry about that! Let’s get straight into it. Thank you for being a member of RISERVE—this newsletter has the goal to profile and give a voice to the great talent that’s out there, specifically in the sports industry, but has not been properly spotlighted or activated. Let’s start with a little housekeeping:
Where are you from?
I am from Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. I moved to Toronto initially to study at UofT (University of Toronto), and then fully moved a couple years after graduating.
How old are you?
I am 30 years old.
What is it that you do and what brought you to it?
I am a photographer working mostly within fashion, sports, and music. I wish I had a profound answer to this but honestly, I don’t think I would be a photographer today without tumblr.
Tell me about your relationship with football. How did you first fall in love with the game?
Football is really big in Trinidad. I remember my grandpa would watch La Liga and Serie A regularly. My dad got me into the Premier League. And in primary and secondary school, playing FIFA1 was almost a default option when hanging out with friends. FIFA 2002 was probably the first one that I remember playing. I think I got my first pair of boots from Payless when I was 9 or 10.
“FOOTBALL HAS PROVIDED ME WITH SO MUCH JOY AND ALLOWED ME TO MEET SO MANY PEOPLE THAT I WOULDN’T HAVE CROSSED PATHS WITH OTHERWISE”
What does football mean to you and how does it influence your daily life?
Football has provided me with so much joy and allowed me to meet so many people that I wouldn’t have crossed paths with otherwise. A lot of my memories from my childhood and adolescence also tend to be time stamped because of football events, whether in real life or through the television. I love being part of a team and having people to lean on, and I believe football is one of the clearest examples of this in practice. It brings people together like very few other things can. Only music holds the same power in my opinion.
What about photography? Where did you first pick up a camera and when did you realize you wanted this to be your main medium for self-expression but also how you make a living?
Both my grandpa and my dad always had cameras and camcorders laying around but mainly to capture family outings or memories. It was never really more than a hobby for them. For me, my teenage years on youtube really influenced me in wanting some sort of career in the visual arts. My first camera was a Flip Video. I really wanted to make youtube videos at first, and I saved up for a Canon T3i, thinking I would make videos with it. When I went to University of Toronto, I started using it more for stills and when I got instagram, the idea of it being an actual career started to become a reality. I remember getting my website back in 2015 and I’ve been photographing for clients ever since.
What’s the hardest part of your job and the part you love the most?
The hardest part is marketing yourself and getting your work in front of new clients. The part I love the most is when someone sees a new version of themselves in a photo I took.
How do football and photography intersect in your practice?
I always aim to make anyone I photograph look powerful, but calm. I think football is a very graceful sport when you look at how a player’s body moves and reacts. It’s like a dance. That movement inspires how I approach photography. If I'm with my camera on the streets, I’m dancing in and out of the flow of strangers. If I’m on set taking a portrait, I’m doing the same dance with the subject. It should be an equal exchange. It should be balanced. I think beautiful football needs balance, and so does beautiful photography.
“FOOTBALL IS LIKE A DANCE.”
Do you have a favorite football memory?
Definitely Trinidad & Tobago qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. We had this playoff game against Bahrain, and I went to the first leg with my family. I had never seen our national stadium so full. The entire country was behind the team and I remember getting sent home from school early to be able to watch the second leg. Until Iceland qualified for the 2018 World Cup, Trinidad was the smallest ever nation to do it. That entire qualifying campaign is burned into my memory.
Tell me a little bit about Parkdale Panthers SFC! What’s your involvement and what’s the story behind the club?
Where do I start?! I started this team in 2021 and we’ve come such a long way. Rec leagues were just opening back up in Toronto after having been shut down because of the pandemic, and I was itching to start playing again. At the time, I was also a football coach for kids aged 2-10, and the coaches had a team I played on. But I wanted to start my own team, so I gathered some of my buddies who also worked in similar creative industries and we started to build a club from scratch. We made sure that everyone was welcome and that we’d make a fun, inclusive space. I’m very proud to be the founder and captain of this team that seems to grow and grow every season. We launched our first kit in 2024, and our next season starts on Feb 9th. Time for our first league title, perhaps?
Do you support a professional team?
I support Manchester United. My dad is a United fan, and I grew up with United being THE team to watch. The 03/04 season was when I really started obsessing over United. The men’s team right now is in turmoil but I like Amorim. I think he will do well. The women’s team usually helps me actually have a good weekend. Grace Clinton is the future!
With the 2026 World Cup coming up, do you have a project you’d like to work on? Shoot your shot!
Luckily, the 2026 World Cup will have some games in Toronto, so I definitely want to shoot some of those! I have friends who I know will be on the sidelines capturing history. I want to be next to them doing it as well. I also want to host some sort of Toronto-wide tournament through the Parkdale Panthers!
Last question, anything exciting coming up?
I’m currently working on making some sort of short film right now. It probably will be dance related! I also have a series called Cherry that i’m hoping to get off the ground soon. Its final form will hopefully be a coffee table book. Other than that, there’s nothing on the immediate horizon. I’m always open to new projects.
[You heard him! If you are interested in working with Stephen, you can find more of his work HERE.]
Now EA FC
Great newsletter and interview! Stephen is a catalyst in the Toronto footy realm!