Off the field, NYCFC's Ethan White makes art behind the lens

Dylan Butler

Editor's note: The following piece initially ran on NYCFC defender Ethan White and his work as a photographer initially ran in April. With NYCFC set to take on Atlanta United FC in a high profile match on Sunday (), we thought we'd give it another spin.

PURCHASE, N.Y. – This Saturday, New York City FC's Ethan White prepares to head back to RFK Stadium to take on the team with which he started his career, D.C. United (4 pm ET, UniMás and Facebook live in US, MLS LIVE in Canada). And naturally, he does so as a vastly different person, both on and off the field.

White, who broke into Major League Soccer as a D.C. United Homegrown Player in 2011, can barely recognize that version of himself. Six years and two teams later, the 26-year-old has reinvented himself as a right back and has started there for three straight games for New York City FC.

“I would say I’m completely different as a player,” White said this week after training. “When you’re young, you’re raw and don’t really know the game well, and you’re making plays off instinct. I think I’ve learned a lot through new coaching and playing a different position now.”

NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira spoke to White in the off-season about the move, and gave him the start Week 2 at home, also against D.C. He’s found a place in the starting XI ever since.

“He’s been really good,” Vieira said of White. “He’s really focused, he works hard, he waited for his chances and he took it. He’s really doing what I’ve been asking for.”

Off the field, White’s hobbies have also dramatically changed. As a rookie, he says he would go home from training to play FIFA for hours on end. Now, though, he's an accomplished photographer, a hobby he describes as starting casually, with friends taking pictures of each other’s sneaker collections in high school.

Now, though, White says he can see a real future behind the lens.

“I would love for it to be something I do after soccer,” White said. “Hopefully one day I can jump into that photography realm, whether its sports or music, anything, just something with photography.”

The initial plan was to chronicle his life through his Canon 60D rather than his cell phone.

“People take a thousand pictures a day and they don’t remember them,” White said. “I wanted to pick up a camera and document my life so I could look back on the times and not just have a cell phone full of 5000 iPhone images.”

After pitching an idea to The Players’ Tribune, White was offered an internship there after the end of the 2016 season. It was a chance for him to shoot numerous sporting events, including the MLS Cup final in Toronto.

“Obviously its different being a player in the league shooting the final you wish you were in, but it was honestly awesome being there and I think I came away with great pictures.” White said. “It was freezing, but it was a lot of fun.”

He also said said he was recognized on the field by other photographers who had shot him in the past. As he went up to get some candids of the Seattle Sounders FC supporters, White was spotted again.

“One of the guys looked at my [credential] and I tried to cover it so he didn’t see my name, but he was like ‘I know your name, Ethan White.’ It was funny,” White said. “He was kind of giving me crap, but he was joking about it.”

White, who has also shot for Flight Club New York and Kicks to the Pitch, is looking forward to future shoots. But for now, he’s a little busy with his day job.

“I plan on working with more, but obviously I have a job that I love,” White said. “This is my first love, my first focus. My time is more focused on this than off-the-field stuff.”

Check out some of his photos: