Kevin Couliau – Professional Photographer
Kevin Couliau
Kévin Couliau, born in 1982 in Nantes, is a French photographer and filmmaker who has chosen basketball as a lens to tell the world. Between art and documentary, his work has explored, over the course of twenty years, the social and cultural impact of this universal sport.
Heir to a dual culture – basketball as a school of discipline, skateboarding as a gateway to image and creation – he shapes a unique visual language where the asphalt becomes a living canvas, the court lines turn into urban calligraphy, and the ball bounces resonate like a collective incantation. From his cult film Doin’ It In The Park: pick-up basketball NYC (2013) to his monograph Blacktop Memento, fragments of erosion (2022), including major exhibitions such as Sphere of Influence (Paris, 2019) and Heart of the City (NYC, 2023), as well as his engagement with the NGO Giants of Africa, Couliau draws a poetic map of the basketball planet, revealing these playgrounds as open-air cathedrals where energy, memory, and identity intertwine.
Gifted with the ability to capture both still moments and narrative movement, he navigates effortlessly between photography, cinema, and publishing, creating visual stories that are as intimate as they are universal. This versatility has enabled him to collaborate with prestigious institutions and brands, including Nike, Apple, the NBA, and Hennessy, as well as with iconic figures such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Billie Eilish, and Barack Obama. Through each of his creations, Kévin Couliau affirms a conviction: basketball is much more than a sport; it is a social force, a common language, and an endless source of poetry.
Worthy De Jong – 3x3 Olympic Gold Medalist
Worthy De Jong
Worthy de Jong is a Dutch 3x3 basketball player. Known for his athletic skills and spectacular finishes around the rim, he led the Netherlands to the gold medal in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, while also claiming the MVP honour.
Born in Paramaribo, Suriname, he moved to Amsterdam at the age of two. There, he began playing basketball at 11 years old. From 2012 to 2022, he represented the Netherlands in basketball, before retiring and dedicating exclusively to 3x3, where he stands as the number 3 player in the FIBA 3x3 World Ranking, and is known as one of the most entertaining players to watch.
His creativity on the court reflects on his personal life, that he likes to document through the lens of a camera, sharing with us his keen eye for details and offering us a unique perspective on his basketball journey.
Rana Elanwar – Professional Photographer
Rana Elanwar
Rana is a sports photographer based in Cairo, specializing in basketball and also covering handball and volleyball. She began her career in 2018 as an official photographer at the Egyptian Basketball Federation and have since worked with FIBA, NBA Africa, and Red Bull on major international tournaments, capturing the game’s energy on and off the court. Her work has been recognized globally, including as a finalist at the 2023 World Sports Photography Awards and winner of an international photo competition in 2024. She is passionate about telling athletes’ stories through imagery that reflects both intensity and emotion.
Petra Leary – Professional Photographer
Petra Leary
Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Petra Leary is an award-winning aerial photographer whose work has appeared on Times Square billboards, global campaigns, and platforms including The Guardian, Instagram, Porsche's Type7, Accidentally Wes Anderson, Sony World Photography, and SkyPixel.
Renowned for her striking images of basketball courts and bold, minimalist style, Petra is an ambassador for DJI and ADHD New Zealand, and has judged major competitions such as Australian Photographer of the Year for six consecutive years.
Her artistic journey was the focus of a 2019 documentary, screened on New Zealand's Loading Docs and at the NY Doc Festival.
Hannah O’Flynn – Host, Producer, Sports Creator
Hannah O’Flynn
Hannah is an Ivy-League graduate and former D1 athlete, with over a decade of experience working with major brands and leagues like FIBA, WNBA, NBA, BAL, NWSL, and ESPN.
She is dedicated to empowering women through sports, and shining a light on athletes whose stories deserve to be told. She has a passion for mixing it up on basketball courts worldwide, and celebrating the universal language of sports on her platform, @oflynnstone.
Lester Padilla – Creative Director at SLAM
Lester Padilla
Lester Padilla was born and raised in Staten Island, New-York, and grew up on the foundations of basketball at an early age. From hoop clinics to traveling teams, his love for the sport and the community it brought together shaped not only his identity, but it also led to his creative path
The game wasn't the only thing he gravitated towards, but also what culturally surrounded it - hip hop, fashion, and sneakers. Passionate about art/design and the visual language of basketball, these influences meshed into what is now his professional career as creative director at SLAM magazine
For Les, basketball was never just about winning, but the bond that was built along the way. As the years passed, the game presented something much greater: a brotherhood rooted in trust, pain and joy. Teammates that became family is what held more value than the sport itself.
MILAD PAYAMI - FIBA Global Lead Photographer
MILAD PAYAMI
Milad Payami has extensive work experience in the field of photography. Milad began their career in 2009 as the Chief of Photography for FIBA. In this role he was responsible for capturing and documenting important moments and events for the organization. Milad also served as the Official Photographer for FIBA Asia and British Polo Day. In 2019, Payami joined the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) as an Official Photographer. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated his passion and skill in capturing compelling images. Milad Payami holds a Bachelor's degree from Azad University.
Giorgia Sottana – Professional Basketball Player
Giorgia Sottana
Giorgia is a professional basketball player and Captain for Famila Wuber Schio (Italy), author of two books, and a volunteer for Aid4Mada & project manager of Play4Mada. She is passionate about photography and videomaking, and dreams to make a career in these domains after basketball.
Meng Yongmin – Professional Photographer
Meng Yongmin
A graduate of Beijing Sport University with a major in basketball (1994), Meng Yongmin currently works in the Photography Department of Xinhua News Agency and serves as Deputy Director of the Communication Committee of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
With years of experience in basketball photography, he has covered five Olympic Games, three Asian Games, three FIBA Basketball World Cups and three FIBA Asia Cups.
also held a photography exhibition titled "Meng Yongmin's Photography Exhibition: Chinese Women's Basketball at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”
Giulia Zecchini – Basketball Host
Giulia Zecchini
Giulia is an Italian born basketball player that has lived in the UK for the last 15 years. Other than her playing career that has taken her around Europe, she is the social media host and presenter for FIBA Euroleague Women and the FIBA Women’s World Cup and stays close to the game through her own initiatives at grassroots level. She has a long-standing passion for content and creativity that she has utilised across her diverse jobs in sports such as F1 and Premier League Football.