FIFA shut the door on her. Florence “Flo” Pernet, a French sports photographer whose clients include Nike, Adidas, and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, did not have accreditation to cover the 2026 World Cup from the stadiums. So she turned on her television, placed her camera in front of the screen, and started photographing the matches from home.
What came out are not blurry amateur photos: they are images with texture, fragmentation, and an aesthetic that blends football, television, and art. They went viral on Instagram, French forward Michael Olise shared them on his own social media, and the Portuguese Football Federation contacted her to collaborate on an entire series of photographs made exactly the same way: from the couch.
Pernet summed it up herself: “You don’t always need to be inside the lines to see the beautiful game differently.” FIFA told her no. Football ended up opening the door for her anyway. 📺
