Steffi Graf, the 22-time Grand Slam-winning tennis player, has turned her focus from the net to the viewfinder and published her first photo-reportage on Friday.
Under the title “The Children of Asmara” the 40-year-old mother-of-two’s photographs represent the lives of kids living in slums in the capital of Eritrea, one of the poorest countries in Africa.
The pictures accompanied an article in the German-language edition of National Geographic Magazine .
Graf, who runs a foundation for the mental health of children called “Children for Tomorrow”, said that “I am not a person of many words,” according to a statement from her publisher.
She said that as a teenager she had seriously considered becoming a photographer, rather than pursuing a career in tennis.
Graf was accompanied on her trip to Asmara by seasoned photo journalist Gerd Ludwig, who instructed her in the art.
“She is really very modest, but decidedly curious,” said Ludwig in the online edition of the magazine.
“If she takes pictures with the same passion and intensity as she once plays tennis, she will become a great photographer,” he said.
