Oppo Launches Colourised Exhibition Of Iconic Wimbledon Images

Wimbledon’s Official Smartphone Partner, OPPO, has celebrated the tournament’s return with a new ‘Courting the Colour’ exhibition, which brings ‘new meaning’ to historic tennis moments in tennis, leveraging its camera technology.

In partnership with Getty Images, the exhibition ‘reawakened the colour’ of seven iconic black and white photographs from tennis history, colourising the imagery and bringing Wimbledon’s past into the modern era.

A collection of seven images features the first Black tennis players to win Wimbledon, Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe, while, images of Suzanne Lenglen, Helen Jacobs, and Fred Perry are also showcased in the exhibition.

“Althea Gibson is an iconic figure being the first African American woman ever to have won the Championships,” said Greg Rusedski, who was present at the media event to unveil the exhibition.

“To win Wimbledon in the manner and style of tennis she played was incredible, and it’s great to see her story brought to life in a way never before seen as she not only drew more fans to the game but brought equality and diversity to tennis. 

“Gibson too can be credited as a catalyst for Serena and Venus Williams winning Wimbledon and Zina Garrison who got to the Wimbledon finals.”

Fashion consultant, Caroline Issa, who was also at the event, added: “Women have long been at the brunt of opinion in comparison to men and to this day are the centre of fashion conversation. 

“It’s interesting to see how far we have come in comparison to Lenglen’s short sleeves and calf length skirt to Helen Jacobs in the 1930’s wearing shorts and tuxedo cropped jacket. Women like Jacobs and Lenglen paved the way for bolder choices, from Billie Jean King’s blue rhinestone dress to Serena’s black catsuit.

Courting the Colour is part of a series of activations under OPPO’s Play with Heart campaign, which includes a new experiential activation along London’s Thames river.