In short
Brazilian-born photographer Sam Robles discusses his “Football Roots” project, documenting street football worldwide to preserve the game’s grassroots spirit.
Guest background
Robles spent 10 years traveling through 18 countries, photographing kids playing barefoot on dirt fields and in alleys, often without shared language.
Key claims
street football lets kids play freely—mistakes and fun matter more than scoring; his images protect the “pure form” of football found in gravel, graffiti walls, and broken textures; photographing kids also became a self-portrait, reconnecting him to his own childhood.
Notable examples
an Istanbul day where he navigated alone, showed Instagram to skeptical locals, spent three hours with a street group, and left after they painted his name on a wall.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOThe Journey Begins
0:17 to 1:16
Sam shares his inspiration and the origins of his project capturing football.
“When you play on the street, you can do whatever.”
Capturing the Moment
1:16 to 2:15
Sam discusses how he began photographing kids playing football around the world.
“There were like 70 different families who were victims of an earthquake.”
Earning Trust in New Places
2:15 to 4:23
Sam recounts a memorable experience in Istanbul and the importance of trust in his work.
“Not a kid, like maybe a 25 year old man.”
The Essence of Football
4:23 to 5:01
Discussion on the purity of football and the beauty found in its roots.
“And really, with this book, are you trying to protect what's left of football?”
Legacy for Future Generations
5:01 to 6:03
Sam reflects on how he hopes his work will resonate with future generations of kids.
“I went to look, I was doing a lot of pictures of the kids, right?”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:03Sam Robles is a Brazilian-born photographer who spent 10 years traveling 18 countries to capture football at its purest. Kids on dirt fields, barefoot in alleys, think the game the way it was meant to be played. Sam, welcome to Beyond the Cover.
0:21Sam Robles:This for me was like escape. My creativity was dying. When you play on the street, you can do whatever. You can make mistakes. You can have fun. You know, it's not all about scoring. And that's how I see this project. Ten years, that's a long time. Beautiful project. Thank you. You went through, what, 18 countries? That's right? Yes. Through the book? Yes. How do you even begin to plan that? The first one happened by chance, you know. I was already looking to do something. and then a good friend of mine, she was going to go to Nepal to help with a non-profit. And she invited me to be the photographer for that project.
1:01Sam Robles:So I went, I connected with her boyfriend really well, like we're really good friends now. He loves football as well, so he was like, man, we have to go play some football. So we went to a camp that his family was helping support. There were like 70 different families who were victims of an earthquake. So we went there to play. I brought my camera and I started playing. I was like, OK, let me take some photos. And then when I started taking photos, it was like, wow, this is why I love photography. I felt like something special, like something that it had been a while since I felt. So I did more of those kind of photos of the kids playing barefoot on the streets.
1:50Sam Robles:and, you know, I felt in love with it. And then every chance I had along the years, I would take one or two days off and I would try to do it more. So what I love about this as well is that you show up in a neighborhood by yourself with just a camera. You're not speaking the language. You don't know people there. How do you really earn that trust from the kids? I'll tell you a story. But when I went to Istanbul, I had a guy that was gonna take me to a few places but when I arrived in Istanbul I only had a day there I was coming from from a job and the guy had some family issues and he couldn't do it so I was like I'm gonna do it on my own and it was like don't do that I saw where I wanted to go and I start going and people would stop me and say no and then I would open google translator you know and they say no very dangerous they will take your camera and they're gonna beat you i said no come on i'm from brazil you know like i i've been to places and they're like no no no no no and then like literally one street a big kid he said you're not you're not coming through and as soon as i made a right there were like 15 kids playing football on the street Look on a very narrow street, you know?
3:12Sam Robles:And I'm like, okay, this is it. Not a kid, like maybe a 25 year old man. And he already, right away he approached me. He's like, what are you doing here? He said, no, I'm here to take photos. Like, no, no, no photos here. And then I opened up my Instagram and I showed him some of the pictures that I did. And he, right away he flipped, you know, he's like, oh my God. and then he called the kids. One of the kids spoke a little bit of English. And they were like, oh my God, Sam, God sent you here. We want pictures. I spent like three hours there. I wanted to buy some stuff for the kids to drink. He didn't allow me to pay.
3:56Sam Robles:He gave it all to the kids. And when I was leaving, they wrote my name with paint on a wall. that moment when they open up, you know, because that switch is important. Like you see a sparkle in their eyes, you know. It's beautiful. So at the top of football, it's like, you know, billion-dollar deals, stadiums, transfers and everything. What you shoot is really in this pure form. Roots comes from that, right? And really, with this book, are you trying to protect what's left of football? I'm not photographing the kids, you know, in the most beautiful stadiums. It's because the football I played was like this.
4:45Sam Robles:I played barefoot. I played, you know, on gravel. I played on dirt. You know, the texture of the walls are all graffiti, you know, all broken. and like, but to me, that's beautiful, you know. I only realized this a couple years in. I went to look, I was doing a lot of pictures of the kids, right? I was like, wow, I have to see a picture of me playing football when I was a kid and I don't have it. So without knowing this whole time, I was doing a self-portrait of me, you know, playing. That's beautiful. Yeah. Some of the kids that you have shot here may pick up the books in 10, 12 years from now.
5:30What do you want them to feel
5:31Sam Robles:when they see their pictures on the pages? Easy. I want them to feel what I felt when I was photographing them, you know. I could see myself in them, you know. So they took me back to my childhood. All of them, you know. Every single second that I was photographing for this, It was like I was reliving my childhood. So I want them to, when they open up, for them to look at it and remember that, you know, because it's a great feeling. You feel alive, you feel young, you feel like there's no limitations, you know.
From the publisher
In this episode of Beyond the Cover, Brazilian photographer Sam Robles reveals the story behind Football Roots. A decade. Eighteen countries. One enduring idea: the game, in its purest form, begins long before anyone is watching. Robles spent nearly ten years documenting the football that never reaches broadcast television: children playing in alleyways, on dirt fields, between two rocks standing in for goalposts.
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