Sean Hemmerle, Baghdad, Iraq, 2003 - Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Julian Sander.
TITLE_NAME :
Hoops
21/02/2026 - 18/04/2026
Galerie Julian Sander
Bonner Str 82
50677 Cologne
https://galeriejuliansander.de
For over twenty years, the American photographer Sean Hemmerle (born 1966) has dedicated his series Hoops [referring to the basketball hoop and the game itself] to the subject of basketball as an international cultural phenomenon transcending borders, languages, and religions. The first image in the series was taken in 2003. At the time, Hemmerle was documenting crisis zones and had traveled to Iraq. Upon seeing a basketball court in Baghdad, he had the idea that—given the controversial actions of the Bush administration—this sport might be the most significant cultural export of the USA.
Hemmerle photographs exclusively in publicly accessible open spaces—for clues that allow for localization and contextualization. Written characters, as well as the typical architecture, landscape, and vegetation of the region, serve as points of reference. The consistent, universal construction principle of the hoop , whether photographed in Hebron or Reykjavik, Cologne or the Bronx, and Hemmerle's uniform, emphatically objective photographic style invite comparative viewing.
21/02/2026 - 18/04/2026
Galerie Julian Sander
Bonner Str 82
50677 Cologne
https://galeriejuliansander.de
For over twenty years, the American photographer Sean Hemmerle (born 1966) has dedicated his series Hoops [referring to the basketball hoop and the game itself] to the subject of basketball as an international cultural phenomenon transcending borders, languages, and religions. The first image in the series was taken in 2003. At the time, Hemmerle was documenting crisis zones and had traveled to Iraq. Upon seeing a basketball court in Baghdad, he had the idea that—given the controversial actions of the Bush administration—this sport might be the most significant cultural export of the USA.
Hemmerle photographs exclusively in publicly accessible open spaces—for clues that allow for localization and contextualization. Written characters, as well as the typical architecture, landscape, and vegetation of the region, serve as points of reference. The consistent, universal construction principle of the hoop , whether photographed in Hebron or Reykjavik, Cologne or the Bronx, and Hemmerle's uniform, emphatically objective photographic style invite comparative viewing.