Visual hommage to France's 'les Experts'

The French Handball Federation has published a visual hommage to its men's national team, celebrating the squad that has been named 'les experts' due to their overwhelming international success in recent years.

The book which was released at the beginning of October showcases 13 French internationals photographed by Jean-François Mollière on the eve of their success at the London 2012 Olympic Games at which the team won its second consecutive gold medal.

"I have always loved sports," Mollière says. "It is a way for me to relive the emotions of the childhood, to confront yourself and push yourself to the limit, to find energy."

Each player is represented with great respect for the aesthetics and has been photographed in the city in which he lived and played handball prior to the Olympic Games.

The readers can see Didier Dinart standing in an empty night club in Madrid. Nikola Karabatic shows his jumping prowess in Montpellier while brothers Bertrand and Guillaume Gille gathered in Hamburg's port at dusk and THW Kiel's Thierry Omeyer and Daniel Narcisse were invited to a photo session inside the city's ferry terminal.

"Handball is more than just a sport for its fans. It's a matter of being together, of living as part of a sports community that places the utmost importance on not seperating the professional from the amateur level," the French federation's president, Joël Delplanque, writes in the book's foreword.

"It is also one way of educating our youth that makes up the majority of the 47,000 registered players in the French Handball Federation. The sport gives them the opportunity to embark on a sportive, human and personally enriching adventure.

"This book is therefore based on the will to invite our amateur players but also and in particular everyone else to have a look at our sport and especially at our champions."

French author and poet, Bernard Chambaz, had also been invited to reflect on the book. "The jumps on the unfolding double-pages form the most beautiful part of the book. Also (the photographs of) the player's hands. It's their main tool, like for a pianist," Chambaz writes.

Win a copy of Hand'art

The European Handball Federation is giving away one copy of Hand'art to its handball fans.

All you have to do is browse your personal handball photo archive and post your favourite photo on EHF's dedicated Facebook pages
www.facebook.com/EHFEUROmen or
www.facebook.com/EHFEUROwomen

The competition starts on Thursday, 15 November, and continue until Friday, 23 November. The winner will then be chosen by the EHF Media and Communications department and contacted directly.

The book can also be ordered for 35 euro through the publisher Éditions de la Martinière via www.editionsdelamartiniere.fr