Through snippets showing men facing charging bulls in a crowd-filled arena, Senegalese wrestlers providing a multimillion-dollar entertainment business, and rites of passage undertaken in challenging forms such as martial arts, Human Playground showcases the deep-seated desire humans have to take risks and to find a place of belonging. Sports provide these fundamental needs with an outlet, confined and codified by accompanying rules, rituals and potential awards. The motivation for sport, which can be seen as a formalised setting for taking risks, is play.
What do you think of when you hear the word play? I associate it with joy, innocence, freedom and flow. I picture my littles hard at play exploring, experimenting, falling, and learning. Play makes me smile, shoot nervous glances at my wife, and at times, gasp.
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A playground should have a pulse. It should swirl with the sounds of children immersed in play, deep in imagination and adventure. It should inspire creativity and bring the senses to life. To be truly alive, a playground must provide resistance in the form of challenges and real, not imagined, risks. It should have diverse spaces which accommodate all types of interests, ages and abilities.
Children learn to judge risks by taking them. They need opportunities to develop their own internal thermometer for risk. In Balanced and Barefoot, Angela Hanscom (2018, pg 126) highlights the importance of controlled risks and common sense safety in the outdoors:
At a recent sports day, a visiting grandmother spotted two young girls standing atop the monkey bars having a conversation. The concerned Nanna raced over to see what I intended to do about it. Knowing these girls, budding gymnasts for whom this was a daily occurrence, I was comfortable letting them be, so I explained the importance of allowing children judge risk and use equipment to seek suitable challenges. Dissatisfied with my lack of concern, the grandmother returned soon after to probe a little further. If kids could stand on the monkey bars, why not let them climb on the two-metre high retaining walls surrounding the playground too?
My point is, not all risks are created equally. A careless and avoidable risk to one person might be ordinary or even mundane to another. Judging risk is personal and contextual. To be clear, hazards and risks are not the same thing, but are often conflated. According to the Canadian Public Health Association,
Schools need to eliminate or minimise hazards while maintaining, or even creating, elements of risk. How do we overcome the adult discomfort that prevents children from taking healthy risks? That leads to games of tag and chase being banned. What learning or discussions need to happen to convince adults that children need opportunities to explore risk, learn to regulate it, and ultimately, become desensitised to it?
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Fast forward nearly four decades and institutional racism remains a pervasive issue in Canada. I now work in the very institution tasked with combating discrimination, the Canadian Human Rights Commission. A sad irony to this predicament is that the Commission has faced allegations of discriminatory practices both in handling race-based complaints and towards its Black and Racialized employees. To the brave employees who courageously decided to speak up and to those that shared their stories, I tip my hat to you.
As a public policy nerd, with over two decades experience in the federal government and a passion for human rights, the Commission had always been my north star. Last year, when I received an offer to join its executive ranks, it felt like a homecoming.
Having just started working here, learning about the allegations against the Commission felt like a betrayal. Conflicted and deeply troubled, I wondered whether I could ethically remain with an organization charged with upholding human rights yet simultaneously accused of discrimination. After much soul-searching and discussions with mentors and friends, I realized that changing jobs would solve nothing. Systemic racism was not limited to this institution; it permeated the entire government.
My fear is that vulnerable people may feel they have nowhere to turn based on what they have heard. The reality is that the Commission is helping people fight systemic discrimination everyday, and resolutions from complaints create meaningful change for thousands across the country.
I learned that the Commission is a critical service for Canadians that brings about systemic anti-racist change. Recent landmark victories of systemic change include anti-racism complaints settled against, CSIS, RCMP and the NFB. Hundreds of similar files have been settled through the Commission's free mediation service, a service that has a nearly 70% success rate and moves hundreds of files a year. I learned that the Commission champions human rights on behalf of all Canadians at international fora, and it represents the public interest in cases before the Tribunal. All of this despite the fact that the Canadian Human Rights Act is severely outdated and the Commission is severely underfunded.
The battle against systemic discrimination persists, both within the Commission and throughout the government. The passion and desire for justice that once folded my fifth-grade fingers into a fist now wrap them around a pen. True institutional change will only occur when we dismantle policies and practices that enable unchecked systemic discrimination. This requires legislative reform.
This visual collection of stories creatively explores the many ways in which humans use sport to express who they are and illustrates all the fascinating forms of play. These photographs are not just about sports; they reveal what makes us human.
The exclusively selected Fine Art Prints are available in different sizes, with only 12 numbered prints per image in total. Each Art Print comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Hannelore Vandenbussche. For more information about the specifications, please email fineart@humanplayground.com.
Aftershock gets even darker while exploring the period after the earthquake, when the threat shifts from an unstable physical environment to unstable humans. Villagers and trekkers turn on each other in the Langtang village, climbers stuck on Everest go head-to-head, and international teams of rescuers jockey for power in the rubble of Kathmandu.
Surrounded by wilderness, public lands and ski resorts, the City of Aspen is angling for opportunities in the surging world of backcountry skiing, hoping to establish itself as the North American capital for human-powered play.
The uphill-economy plan taps the city to help foster improvements to the already-robust human-powered recreation offerings around the valley. Maybe those improvements involve the Aspen-based 10th Mountain Division Hut Association or the Aspen Snowmass Nordic Council.
Jason Blevins lives in Eagle with his wife, daughters and a dog named Gravy.Job title: Outdoors reporterTopic expertise: Western Slope, public lands, outdoors, ski industry, mountain business, housing, interesting thingsLocation:...More by Jason Blevins
Human Playground is more than a book; it is a window into the astonishing world of sports, games, rituals and traditions. What drives us to play games? That is the tantalizing question that prompted Belgian photographer Hannelore Vandenbussche to embark on a worldwide expedition to explore this fascinating subject.
Hannelore's quest has taken her to all corners of the world. From Central Asia to Portugal, her photography offers deep insight into the world of sports, the fire of athletic competition, and the rituals and celebrations that enrich the human spirit.
The athletes: portraits of tradition and innovation
The athletes Hannelore has captured tell a story that goes far beyond the sport itself. They embody old traditions while giving life to new ones. They are symbols of human determination, strength and creativity.
Buzkashi Players and Donga Stick Fighters: Old Traditions in New Light
In Central Asia and Ethiopia, Hannelore introduces us to the extraordinary sports of Buzkashi and Donga stick fighting. These sports are more than just games; they are living traditions that bridge generations and shape cultural identities.
Tarahumara runners and Gulf surfers: The limits of human performance
From the Tarahumara runners in Mexico to the great wave surfers in Nazar, Portugal, Hannelore reveals the profound connection between man and nature, and the extraordinary lengths to which athletes go to fulfill their passions.
A world in pictures
Human Playground is not just about indigenous cultures or faraway places. It also includes a rich palette of both well-known and lesser-known sports and games from around the world. It introduces these to a wider audience, opening our eyes to the universal value of play and competition.
The Human Playground book: A new take on a timeless subject
Human Playground is more than a book of photographs; it is an artistic and cultural exploration that brings together the everyday and the extraordinary. It offers a fresh look at how old traditions are kept alive and new ones are born, and how rituals and celebrations are an integral part of our human experience. This extraordinary work invites us to think more deeply about what it means to play, compete, and be part of a rich, global community of athletes and players. A must-read for anyone interested in the complex and multifaceted world of sports and play. 152ee80cbc