Hoop Dreams: An Exclusive Look at the ‘Giants of Africa’ Photography Exhibit

Last August, Toronto-based photographer Adrian Armstrong — whose award-winning work regularly appears in the pages of Sharp — travelled to Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda to document the efforts of Giants of Africa, a non-profit organization founded by Toronto Raptors GM Masai Ujiri.

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Since 2003, the organization has run basketball camps to help educate and enrich the lives of underprivileged youth across Africa. “Basketball and sport instills in these young men values like team work, hard work and perseverance,” Armstrong says. “Those are lessons that will hopefully follow them throughout their lives.”

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That approach certainly seems to be working: over 80 GOA campers have gone on to attend high school or university in the United States, and over 100 attended university in Nigeria. Close to 20 participants have played on the junior teams of major clubs in Europe, another 30 have played on the Nigerian Junior National team, and nearly 55 have attended the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program in Africa.

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Tomorrow, on the eve of NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto, Armstrong’s images from the trip — as well as those of fellow photographer Roberto Caruso — are set to debut at the TIFF Bell Lightbox alongside a sneak peek of Giants of Africa, a feature-length documentary about the organization. Armstrong was kind enough to give Sharp this exclusive preview of his stunning shots, but be sure to catch the full exhibition on display from February 11th to 16th.

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Photography: Adrian Armstrong