For photographer Willem de Kam and Feyenoord’s army of loyal supporters, football in Rotterdam is a religion.
With the popular Arne Slot at the helm, the 2022-23 season saw the Dutch giants win their 16th title, topping the Eredivisie ahead of rivals PSV and Ajax – who have often dominated the top of the table.
Known for is work focussing on the matchday emotions of football fans, de Kam’s photos from Feyenoord Rotterdam’s championship winning season come together in his new book – Hebbes.
As their club slogan proudly suggests, this is the club of the people – and de Kam’s photographs don’t disappoint when it comes down to capturing the intensity and togetherness of the supporters – who became known as Het Legioen (The Legion).
Their support is so highly valued by the club that the number 12 shirt was dedicated to them and no player is ever assigned that number. These fans really can call themselves the 12th man.
This legion of fans come together through thick and thin, of which Feynoord have had their fair share over the years, at their 51,000 seater home – Stadion Feijenoord, more commonly known simply as De Kuip – The Tub, to get behind their team and create an atmosphere that is revered across Europe.
Speaking with Lower Block about his new book, de Kam talks about how he came to football relatively late, but became sucked by the Feyenoord culture and atmosphere.
Lower Block: Tell us a bit a about yourself, where are you from and where do you live now?
Willem de Kam: I’m from a small village near Rotterdam on the northeast of Rotterdam. Currently I live in Schiedam, on the western edge of Rotterdam.
LB: And safe to assume you are a Feyenoord supporter?!
WK: You’ve assumed correct! My parents weren’t big football fans but we did attend the Feyenoord Open Day a few times. Watching football wasn’t something that played a big part in my life though. It was at the 2010 World Cup I realised you could have the same intensity and joy watching your local club. But before that I didn’t really care. At the same time livestreams became easily accessible. After that point it seems to be this sort of black hole that slowly started to suck in all the time it can get. From incidental match tickets in the beginning to travelling all the way to Kosovo for a conference league qualification match that we weren’t even allowed in the stadium for!
LB: So you probably didn’t have an real idols growing up, do you remember the first big name player you saw live?
WK: The only match I saw in my youth was against the now bankrupt RBC Roosendaal. We won 1-0 in a horribly boring game from a 90 minute goal by Patrick Paauwe. Looking back at the match statistics both Pierre van Hooijdonk and Robin van Persie played in that game, but I didn’t remember anything of them!
LB: How did this book come about? What was your inspiration for it?
WK: In 2016 I bought a small camera to use in the stands. Since then I’ve been photographing every match I’ve attended. In art academy I’ve learned to make work about the things that fascinate you. During my graduation one of my projects was about natural processes that are chaotic and our human urge to control it. In The Netherlands we completely designed the landscape ourselves. This urge to control nature and keep it within boundaries is in my opinion also seen in football. A crowd is a very primal and chaotic phenomenon. So in The Netherlands there’s a real struggle with dealing with that. Away ends are completely fenced off. There’s travel restrictions on almost all games. The police get force get stressed when 100 supporters travel to another city.
But there’s loads of different aspects in football culture that I love and/or fascinate me. The community aspect of it, the role of religion it took instead of churches. But at the core I’ll always be amazed about our behaviour in the stands, jumping up and down, shouting at the top of our lungs, for a few guys who just do their day job really well.
LB: What about photographic or artistic influence?
WK: Being a photographer from The Netherlands working in football I have to mention Hans van der Meer. His football work is iconic. The wide angled, sort of “neutral” compositions that are more landscapes really accentuate the comical world inside them.
Vincent Mentzel’s small series on Feyenoord – Ajax in 1969 was also a big influence. A few other names I have to mention are Ken Grant’s Liverpool work, Martin Andersen’s series on Tottenham Hotspur.
Besides football, Boogie always was someone to look up to. There’s loads more I keep forgetting, which reminds me to buy more photo books – everything get’s lost when you only follow people on instagram.
LB: What was it about taking pictures and telling stories through photos that interested you?
WK: A camera gives you access to so many different worlds. You have an excuse to be somewhere you otherwise can’t be. Every day I’m grateful I can make a living out of it, because it’s the greatest profession in the world.
The process of making a photo book really helps getting to the core of what you want to tell with the images. I love the story to be a bit more poetic, have these images together that together tell a story. It doesn’t have to be a literal description of something that happened. But can be much more of a depiction of the feeling of the experience.
For that reason, I couldn’t say I have a favourite photo from the book. What I am really happy with though is that it includes every aspect of what I love about Feyenoord. It can be grim and the next week there could be this childish playful innocence.
Great photos, proper football culture. Get yourself a copy direct from Willem’s website shop.
Keep up with Willem on Instagram and Twitter.
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