It might be a cliche to say I’m Australian and I love the footy, but the fact is I do. Although, maybe not in the way most other people do. I don’t really understand the rules of footy, and unless my brother is the one actually kicking the ball I’m fairly ambivalent to the outcome. But I do love to go to the footy just for the atmosphere. I have great memories of being at the football with my dad and some family friends. I can’t remember the games themselves, but I remember my dad shouting himself hoarse, and getting overpriced MCG chips slathered in vinegar, you know that really thick kind that comes in squeeze packs and burns your mouth if you use too much?

Today was my brothers footy grand final so everyone was out there, our family friends, or grandparents came down from the coast, it was one big reunion. The weather was beautiful, the sausages were sizzling and there was at least one punch on. It was great. I took my camera but since I don’t have a huge zoom lens I couldn’t get many good pictures of the game itself so I turned my lens elsewhere. I had fun photographing my Grandpas reactions while he was too caught up in the game to notice, then went looking in the crowd for some other reactions. I ended up having to take photo bursts in order to get my dads expressions, they changed so quickly. I think my favourite photo I took today is this one:

The intensity on everyones faces, as well as the synchronisation of the crowd, makes me laugh for some reason. I can’t get into the game as much as my family does, but I think its worth going just to see the atmosphere of footy games. For a short amount of time, we’re all part of the team, all our emotions are tied to these few people running around on a field. They’re victories are our victories, their losses are ours as well. I’d have to wait till the next season to do this, but I’d like to create a replay of a football match that uses only the audiences reactions, as I think this is the more interesting part of any match.

In the meantime I’m going to keep my eye out for opportunities to point my camera in a different direction, to switch the focus onto the audience, and see what kind of story their reactions tell.

(P.S I don’t know why the photo is turning up really grainy, when you click it it links to a better quality version)