Chasing Zinedine Zidane has turned into a special past time for me. I first became a fan when he raised the World Cup for France in 1998. 8 years later my (future) wife and I would make a pilgrimmage to watch his swan song in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Montreal. A year later our son would be born with the nickname Zizou and then, Zidane would return the favour to chase us by playing an exhibition in Vancouver.

I met him underneath the stands of Swangard Stadium where he signed a full France kit for my son and scribbled his signature on a photo for his room. Zacharie knows who Zidane is, mostly because his name has a lot of “Z for Zacharie” in it.

Zidane is back in my life with an interesting art installation at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary.

The exhibit is a series of iso shots of Zizou playing in a 2005 match for Real Madrid against Villareal. 17 cameras were trained on Zidane to watch him from every angle for the full 90 minutes. The artistry and efficiency of movement he displays during the match gives you an idea why passionate fans call it “the beautiful game.”

It is meant to be a modern take on portraiture, instead of one 2 dimensional photo, we get a 3 dimensional look at one of the greatest figures in football history.

The exhibit alongside Zidane is one of Yousuf Karsh. The stories of his iconic portraits are stunning. The tale of stealing a cigar from Churchill‘s iron grip or discussing the depths of artistry with Pablo Picasso are fascinating.