A retrospective exhibition featuring 40 works by celebrated photographer Peter Robinson has opened at New Parks Library in Leicester, highlighting a historic career that spanned 13 World Cups and visits to nearly 100 nations. Robinson, 82, served as FIFA's official photographer for two decades, capturing legends including Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Diego Maradona, and Lionel Messi. Yet despite his presence at football's grandest spectacles, the Rutland resident openly admits he was never an enthusiast of the game itself, citing his lack of typical fan passion as the very catalyst that helped him capture off-pitch narratives and unique perspectives missed by conventional sports photographers.
Robinson's path into the industry began unexpectedly in 1964. While organizing local musical acts in Leicester, he crossed paths with a group of photography students known as The Contacts from the Leicester School of Art, now De Montfort University. Although he did not possess a camera at the time, he enrolled in the course and instantly found his calling. Football remained the last thing he wanted to document, but financial struggles led him to deliver papers for Football League Review before transitioning into a staff photographer. He subsequently took assignments for the Football Association before FIFA enlisted him to provide images for the official tournament report at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
Robinson remained FIFA's official photographer through to the 1994 World Cup, where he captured one of his most iconic pictures: Italian captain Franco Baresi stepping up to receive a runners-up medal with the trophy just out of reach following a penalty defeat to Brazil in Los Angeles. His extensive portfolio also includes an October 1970 photograph of Sir Bobby Charlton taking a corner alongside a watching policeman—praised by Michael Palin in a book introduction as resembling a Renaissance painting—as well as scenes from Diego Maradona's 1986 triumph in Mexico, a 1987 village match in Madagascar during the Camel Trophy, and a recent return from retirement to document Argentina against Cape Verde in Miami at the 2026 World Cup.
Curated by Hugo Worthy, the exhibition is staged on the very street where Robinson grew up in New Parks, offering an inspiring reminder that world-class journeys can stem from ordinary places. Worthy commended Robinson for using football to explore the wider human condition, focusing on compelling human stories rather than standard match action. Robinson's enduring contributions to international sports documentation were also formally acknowledged with a lifetime achievement award at the 2025 Lucie Awards.