Renowned photographer Stuart Roy Clarke has unveiled his brand new exhibition, The Homes of Football, outside the National Football Museum in Manchester.
FourFourTwo was lucky enough to speak with Stuart about the project recently, in which Amazon Prime Video enlisted the photographer to take pictures of fans up and down the country watching Premier League action at home. Stuart has been photographing fans for 30 years, as stadiums moved on from terraces to all-seaters - so this has been a project unlike any that he's undertaken.
INTERVIEW FFT speaks to Stuart Roy Clarke about photographing fans in lockdown
Minister for Tourism, Sport & Commonwealth Games Nigel Huddleston, and MD at Amazon Prime Video Sport Europe, Alex Green, accompanied Stuart at the unveiling of the exhibition - which is outdoors, so not even COVID can stop fans from going along to see it.
“Even now, we’re not completely out of COVID - it’s going to impact a third season,” Stuart told FFT recently. “It’s a unique time and in years to come, there’ll be this little 130-page book and someone will be looking back and say, ‘Wow, that happened in the middle of this period.”
The pictures include fans of every single Premier League club, all shot over the Christmas of 2020. Visitors are even able to scan QR codes to hear the stories behind each image as told by the families themselves.
“There were quite a few there where it was uncomfortable for them to watch at home, rather than be in the ground.” Stuart told us about the project. “They were itchy - pacing around. One or two couldn’t bear to watch on their own because they were used to watching in a group - so within the laws of COVID, they’d invite another group.
“I think there’s only one of the 32 groups that I shot - a young boy, a Chelsea supporter - and he’s got his laptop and he’s watching on his own. There’s a bit of a society in there.”
The full line-up of images, featuring supporters from each Premier League club, will be showcased at The National Football Museum from today until June 12th. A special independently published edition of The Homes of Football 2020/21 book will also be released for free this summer, with more details to follow. To find out more information on the exhibition, please visit: https://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/plan-your-visit/.
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