Few shirts in football carry the cultural weight of the Azzurra. It’s a symbol stitched into the identity of a nation, worn not only in stadiums, but in neighbourhood cages, coastal kickabouts and mountain-town pitches.
With Scatti d’Azzurro (Shots of Blue), adidas and the Italian Football Federation set out to capture that spirit, travelling the length of Italy to explore where the country’s deep-rooted love for the game truly lives.
From the islands to the Alps, cities to countryside, Scatti d’Azzurro brings together six Italian photographers tasked with documenting football in its most authentic setting: their own communities. Between Palermo and Turin, via Venice, Matera, Ancona and Val Camonica, each creative lens turns toward the places where the game exists far from the glare of stadium floodlights: on neighbourhood asphalt, improvised pitches, snowy fields and streets where imagination fills in for goalposts.
At the heart of every frame sits the unmistakable blue of the Azzurra jersey. A thread of heritage and pride that connects generations and territories, it becomes the visual anchor for a story told through place, people and passion. The result is a portrait of a country that breathes football, told through six distinct perspectives, united by colour, culture and the game that binds them.
Here, we present the photographers behind Scatti d’Azzurro, alongside a selection of their images and the words that capture the essence of their work.
Cecilia Palmeri | Venice
“The photos were taken between the Venetian 'patronati' (community centres) and the few fields where it's still allowed to play football like in the old days. Very few residents remain in Venice, but they are still able to carve out a small space amidst the incessant flows of an increasingly crowded city. And so, after the school bell rings, the kids gather in the 'campielli' (small squares), transforming them for a few hours into improvised playing fields.”
Francesco Freddo | Matera
“The first thing I did was pick up my camera and go back to look for my childhood places: the squares, the dilapidated pitches, those imperfect spaces where friendships were born and thousands of kicks were taken at a ball. Places I never forgot. To my great surprise, years later, I still found kids playing there. It's not something to be taken for granted today, in a time when less and less street football is played. Yet, in Matera, something has remained.”
Paola Massarenti | Torino
“Shots taken in provincial fields between Pavarolo, Chieri, and Riva presso Chieri, the same ones where I myself started playing. These shots tell the story of generations united by their passion for the 'Azzurra' jersey: by wearing it, any field can become a stadium.”
Alessandro Belussi | Brescia / Valle Camonica
“Like a fragmented yet lucid dream, in these images I tried to give form to my imagination linked to the game of football. The game that begins when you don't yet know who you are, and that accompanies you through growth, and which is internal and linked to the places you have lived. The squares and the oratory with middle school classmates kicking the ball and looking for the most beautiful goal, imagining being Del Piero. In the background, the stratified history of my territory, from Brescia's Roman subsoil to the peaks of Valle Camonica..”
Lorenzo Bonanni | Jesi (Ancona)
“The photographs were taken in Jesi, my hometown, the place where my passion for football was born and consolidated. In the shots, I tried to convey the memories linked to this place, photographing some of my beloved spots. I remember my adolescence, the friendships born in those years, and the afternoons spent chasing a ball in every corner of the city: from the parks in front of the middle schools to the gravel pitches with torn nets.”
Giuseppe Scianna | Palermo
“This work stems from following football where, in Palermo, it continues to exist in its truest form: in the street. The shots traverse improvised pitches and symbolic places of the city, from the mural of San Benedetto il Moro in the Ballarò district to the pitch of Zen 2, from the alleys of Vucciria to the mural dedicated to Totò Schillaci.”
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