In 2009 Jessica Hilltout set out on an adventure to capture the passion of football on the African continent at a grassroots level. She travelled more than 20,000 km across 10 countries, equipped with her Hasselblad, 300 rolls of film, a logbook, a mini digital camera, a digital printer and a stock of deflated footballs.

Jessica unveils the hidden and tells stories of unsung heroes. In her series AMEN, she speaks of the masses and of the World Cups that are played every day by teams, friends and communities all over the continent, where they are making balls, marking pitches, scoring goals and above all pleasing themselves. The power of the ball and the beautiful game, whether in a professional club or a small rural village, is enormous. Here football is not just a game, it is the glue that binds village to village, team to team, tribe to tribe and people to people. It is one of life’s essentials. Jessica followed her gut and felt her way through villages in search of all those little details that speak of Africa’s great football passion.

All the people who live and will remain in the shadow of the World Cup deserve to have a light shone on them, not just for their passion for the game but more so for the fundamental energy and enthusiasm that shines through the way they live. Jessica’s work embraces Africa and everything that makes it unique. It shines a light on the authenticity and sheer ingeniousness of a continent that manages to do so much with so little, capturing people with simple needs and huge hearts, and expressing football in its purest form.