See some of Stuart’s work on 17吃瓜在线
Sometimes, an idea can change your life. That鈥檚 what happened to Stuart Roy Clarke, in 1989. Back then, he was a football fan and a young photographer. British football was in a sorry state: racism and hooliganism were endemic, and many football grounds were old and decrepit. But all this was eclipsed in April 1989, by the Hillsborough stadium disaster, which cost 96 Liverpool fans their lives. It was a wake-up call for football, and the result was the Taylor report, which would transform the face of British football, such as, introducing all-seater stadiums.
Stuart seemed to be the only photographer to grasp that Taylor was seminal moment for British football; that the national game would never be the same again. But more importantly, that it was vital to capture this moment on film. 鈥淚 woke up in a sweat and thought, 鈥業 know exactly what I should do 鈥 document it, and not just now, but for at least the next ten years.鈥欌
Stuart鈥檚 foresight has paid huge dividends, because his project 鈥 is a unique photo documentary of British football, capturing images and events that have vanished over time. 鈥淚f something like Hillsborough and Taylor happened for the first time today, there would be a thousand artists and photographers queuing up to give their version of it,鈥 says Stuart, 鈥渂ut back then, no one seemed to be producing any art in football, even though it was the nation鈥檚 game and this was a major disaster.鈥
Stuart鈥檚 images capture events both on and off the pitch, and inside and outside the ground. Such is his dedication to finding the right image that, he often turns up at a ground six hours before kickoff and begins looking around for potential shots. His work has taken him to football grounds across Britain and abroad. A quick glance at the Homes of Football gallery (http://homesoffootball.co.uk/gallery/) reveals the breadth of Stuart鈥檚 work and his keen eye for capturing both the pain and the passion the game engenders; as well as the extraordinary, the quirky and the seemingly mundane. However, Homes of Football is not a football museum, but an organic, living project, that Stuart is constantly adding to 鈥 there are now more than 100,000 images in the archive.
Stuart Roy Clarke was born in Hertfordshire in 1961. As a boy, he liked drawing, but his father鈥檚 and grandfather鈥檚 old prints and slides drew him to photography. At secondary school, a teacher encouraged Stuart to take up photography, and he bought his first camera, a Zenit. Six months later, he purchased a 35mm Canon, which he still uses today. After leaving college, Stuart worked in a music store (music is another passion of his), but apart from a brief period working in a hotel, he has been a photographer for most of his life, mainly focusing on football and music events.
Stuart describes his approach to photography as 鈥榩urist鈥 and it鈥檚 easy to see why. He only uses two cameras, a 25 year-old box Bronica and his 36 year-old Canon; eschews digital technology; doesn鈥檛 use filters or a light meter, and sets a limit of 100 shots per commission. He also doesn鈥檛 do any cropping or PhotoShopping. 鈥淚 love a camera that works well, and the Canon and Bronica are tried and tested,鈥 says Stuart, 鈥淚鈥檓 not Luddite when it comes to digital, but I don鈥檛 like the mindset that digital engenders: 鈥業 can take loads of shots and know that one or two will work out okay.鈥 It feels like there鈥檚 a lack of reverence towards photography.鈥
Nor is Stuart anti-PhotoShop, 鈥淚 have no problems with people completely changing pictures with PhotoShop and I admire some artists that do this. But I don鈥檛 like it being used for improving things. My feeling is that I know the parameters of the camera and film I鈥檓 using, so I should get it right in the camera. I鈥檓 trying to tell the truth, as it appeared in front of the lens, not beautify the subject.鈥
Stuart is an admirer of Cartier-Bresson, who coined the phrase, 鈥榯he decisive moment,鈥 but says, 鈥淚t鈥檚 very easy for photographers to think that they have just missed the decisive moment and curse their luck. But quite often, the decisive moment returns, or an even better decisive moment comes along later.鈥 An example of this can be seen in the Homes of Football gallery, with the quirky image of a dog perched on its hind legs at the front of the stand. Stuart had seen the fan and dog outside the ground, and looked out for them during the match. 鈥淭he first time the dog stood up, I missed it. But he did it again, and I got the picture,鈥 says Stuart.
Today Homes of Football is a national institution and on semi-permanent display at the National Football Museum in Manchester. Stuart has also had close to 100 solo shows at numerous galleries, written books and regularly receives commissions from football bodies. It has made Stuart a good living, but it wasn鈥檛 always the case, 鈥淚n the first five years, I struggled to get galleries and museums interested in my pictures,鈥 he recalls, 鈥渢he attitude was that football photography was something that belonged on the back pages of the newspapers. Fortunately, that鈥檚 changed now.鈥
But in an age where football has gone corporate; club image rights are strongly protected, and where taking photographs in public (especially of children) can be challenging, how easy is it for him to continue documenting the beautiful game? 鈥淚t is trickier, but I think I can still take the pictures I used to take.鈥
Although Stuart is now in his fifties, he has no plans to slow down, 鈥淚鈥檓 still excited about what I can do today and tomorrow,鈥 he says, 鈥淚鈥檒l carry on doing the football, but if I can find the time, I鈥檇 also like to explore other forms of photography, including portrait. I also like the idea of aerial photography and underwater photography. The energy and the enthusiasm to take pictures are still there.
So, as聽a photographer who is yet to venture into digital photography, what made Stuart turn to stock? Well, we asked him and this is what he said:
For years as I built my 4 photographic collections: Homes of Football, pop music festival, Cumbria, people & place …I sensed there may be a way to popularise and indeed sell my work outside of my own website and exhibitions; (I suppose) I was hoping for a vehicle to transport my work across boundaries of time and place and even taste. I had offers over the years from various companies and picture-libraries to take on my work and whether it was the wrong time or whether it was a reluctance by instinct: I chose not to go with any of them. Then, along came 17吃瓜在线.
17吃瓜在线 ticks all the boxes for me – a photographer who is overly precious about his life’s work. Being in Oxfordshire – in a rural place – not in the big city, suits my sense of where I am from, likewise provincial. In dealing with 17吃瓜在线 I have a familial feeling… the world is indeed our oyster – we are worldly – but there are firm roots.
I marvel at the 17吃瓜在线 process: committing many if not all of my pictures – some tucked away – to a portal where they can be transported to audiences and to markets. Meanwhile i have some learning to do –聽 in captioning and keywording my photographs, I am seeing them anew, discovering things and textures, getting excited by the images as when I did when I first took them…but all over again! They seem to be attaining new meaning during the 17吃瓜在线 process. That I should be rewarded with sales over the long run, when it has been an extremely long run in assembling the images in the first place – becomes the icing on the cake – the party, a reward.