Austin Bell
Southern #56, Stanley, 2022
2022
H 90 x W 60 cm
Archival Pigment Print
Edition of 8
Upon his first visit to Hong Kong in 2017, photographer Austin Bell was struck by the color and design of the city’s basketball courts— starkly contrasting the bland asphalt surfaces in his native USA. Intrigued, Bell returned in 2019 with the goal of capturing ALL of the basketball courts in Hong Kong. Scouring Google Maps and using his drone, Bell discovered that the sheer number of outdoor courts in Hong Kong exceeded that of any city worldwide, even major U.S. cities like New York and Los Angeles. His project expanded to include multiple visits, 140 days of shooting and over 40,000 photos, culminating in his documentation of 2,549 courts. Bell was drawn to these courts not only for their ubiquity but also for their vivid designs, often featuring bright colors that accompany the colorful housing estates and schools nearby. This vibrancy becomes even more pronounced from above, providing a striking contrast to the city’s vertical density.
The work has been auctioned off during the Charity Auction on March 22nd 2025 and creatively loaned by the generous bidder for Design Trust Charity Exhibition: Transformational Exceptions.
About Austin Bell
Austin Bell is a photographer from North Carolina, USA. His work centers around large-scale collection and showcasing novel perspectives, frequently aerial, of landscapes and architecture. He wants to show subjects and places in ways that delight and transport the viewer. In addition to capturing over 4,500 basketball courts worldwide, Bell also photographs aerial landscapes and birds. Past publications include a book of bird photography, Birding: The First Two Years, and a non-fiction book, Horse Show Boyfriend, a travelogue explainer and the world of hunter-jumper horses.
