Fan and photographer Harry Taylor has followed his local side since childhood and sees Blackburn Rovers as having all the key ingredients of a proper club for the community.
Harry Taylor need look no further than Ewood Park for all the values that he says make for the ideal community club.
Says Taylor: “Football can help the local economy, support people’s mental health and wellbeing and sport is great for kids to seek role models for inspiration.”
Not for him thoughts of following any of the ‘big six’.
“I started watching them (Blackburn Rovers) because of my dad and also I find it much more enjoyable supporting a team that has been through it all rather than the ‘big 6’ who only seem to care about trophies rather than the identity and ethos of what a football club should represent.
“Football for me is not about the trophies and how much money a club has spent in a transfer window. In my opinion, it is about a football club that shares core values with its local community.
“Football has definitely had a big impact on how I view the world and how it remains an important part of my life. Nothing beats watching Blackburn play home and away. Getting to meet new people, go to new destinations… Last minute limbs.”
“In the modern age, I really detest how parts of the media only seem to discuss huge transfer fees, people who constantly try to get views and fans that say it is embarrassing to celebrate wildly beating a ‘smaller team’.”
Harry Taylor
Taylor studied photography for six years and has aspirations to make it a full time career.
He admires the work of Colin McPherson, Stuart Roy Clarke and Hans van der Meer. “They introduced me to a world that I believed was real, passionate and it was a genre of photography that I could easily identify with,” he said.
“The architecture of the stadiums, the 90 year old fan who has been going for 80 years, etc.
“What I have had to overcome whilst documenting football as a specific genre is the cliche that football photography can’t be portrayed as art and how many people just do not see the beauty the game offers us.”
You can keep up with Harry, his football project and other photography on Instagram. Drop him a DM for any enquiries regarding commissions and collaborations.
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