The Hidden Hoops of Venice Beach: Basketball Art in the Alleyways

There are plenty of people that would argue on either side, but regardless of which one you’re on, you’ll have to agree that Venice Beach is one of the street ball meccas of the USA? NYC obviously being the other. It’s my personal opinion that White Men Can’t Jump is the greatest basketball movie ever made. It takes place in a few locations around LA, but most notably Venice, and was certainly the thing that put Venice basketball on the map. The games that happen there today look a lot different, but I appreciate what’s happening either way. Nick Ansom is the one at the helm of the Venice Basketball League now. He is responsible for all the creative energy and growth that happens locally as well as across the country and overseas. If you haven’t seen what he’s done with the Hoop Bus, check it out. Very impressive. I linked up with Nick a while back because of our obvious shared interest in basketball. Yet another example of personal projects leading to fun outcomes/relationships. COVID was a strange time for the VBL because it literally couldn’t happen. The city put a device on all the rims that prohibited play. As the saying goes though, Basketball Never Stops. Instead of sitting around crying about it, Nick put his energy into another creative endeavor - Survival Hoops. Along with another artist friend Lori Powers, they started creating hoops out of junk. It started small, but after a while they had built and hung 100+ beautifully weird hoops all over the alleys of Venice Beach. About a month ago we linked up and documented their work. I really enjoyed seeing what they had created and am honored to be part of a piece of basketball culture. It would be easy to write this project off as someone just being bored and having time to kill during a pandemic. You would be wrong though. What they created is much bigger than that. It’s well thought out, deliberate, and has brought a lot of happiness not just to the people who have played on them, but also to the locals in Venice that walk by these hoops every day. And hopefully it will be preserved in some kind of document for people to see years from now.

Follow the Venice Basketball League on IG @veniceball

Contact me directly if you’d like prints of these images for your home, office, or commercial space - rob@robhammerphotography.com