Neil Bedford's superb collection of images from this summer's World Cup

As the chilly nights of winter draw in, the sun-kissed samba fantasy that was this summer’s World Cup in Brazil seems lightyears ago. Creative projects inspired by the tournament were as prolific as the German team’s strikers, but it’s always nice to see something a little different, such as this lovely Brasil 2014 publication from the excellent Neil Bedford. Neil was at the tournament as part of a collaboration between Visa and our pals at The Green Soccer Journal but this booklet seems to include those pictures which weren’t used as part of that campaign. There’s wit and passion and pride and intensity throughout the images and an extraordinary shot of an Argentine supporter seemingly walking into the waves.

We’ve long admired Neil’s work and this collection of work shows quite why he’s so highly regraded. This World Cup was beset with visual cliches, but the really interesting practitioners who covered the tournament, such as Neil and Jane Stockdale were confident and creative enough to avoid them, and produce something much more interesting in the process.