A new photo book by photographer Alfonso Denton that captures all that makes the beautiful game so special.
Denton calls his photo series Frames of Football, and with his black and white images, focuses solely on the passion, joy and frustrations of football, taken during a yearlong project that kicked off with the Lionesses’ jubilant and groundbreaking Euros 22 win.
Bursting with over 50 fabulous images, what started as a passion project as 80,000 packed into Wembley to watch the Women’s Euro 22 final, became more about the lifestyle and community around football; what happens outside the gates of London’s home teams on match days, or in those informal, but equally emotionally-charged games, captured by Denton whilst in Luanda, Angola.
Lower Block spoke to Denton about his ongoing project and his love of football.
Lower Block: Where are you from and who do you support?
Alfonso Denton: I was born and raised in South East London, Lewisham and now live in Sutton.
I’m a Gooner and have been since an early age. I think I support them because I like the players I saw growing up – Ian Wright, Paul Merson, Tony Adams and I also loved the kit.
There were so many players I really liked growing up, but to name a few, Pirlo, Henry, Gatuso, Davids, Zidane, Brazilian Ronaldo, Ronaldinho…I think I liked these players because they had different and big personalities as well as great footballing ability.
LB: What drew you towards football as a fan?
AD: I just love the emotions that football brings out in fans and players. There’s a reason why its the most popular game in the world. I used to play for several teams when I was younger, still do now when I can and remember watching Match Of The Day and European games in my kitchen on a black and white TV. Scoring the lunch time winner in secondary school was always the highlight of your day and I think the love people feel for football stems from those childhood experiences.
LB: Tell me a bit about this project, how did it come about?
AD: I started doing photography in the summer of 2022, doing street and portrait photography, but by Christmas I thought that I wanted to put my time into something I love, so I made the decision to combine it with my love of football. I go to as any Premier League games in London as possible and take any pictures while abroad in holiday.
LB Do you have a favourite photograph from this series?
AD: My favourite picture is the first in the book – people walking down Wembley Way towards me with the stadium in the background. People are evenly spaced in front of me with one women in a bucket hat and England top at the centre of the picture, which is symbolic of the game which had just finished where the Lionesses won the 2022 Euros.
LB: What makes photographing football culture such a fascinating subject?
AD: When I mention I do football photography, people may get the idea of simply photos where someone is kicking a ball, but it’s much more than that. I feel I have a good eye for capturing a moment or an emotion and there so many opportunities to capture these photographs relating to football. When photographing football, you are capturing the ups and downs of people who grew up thinking of one day playing for their favourite team, who work hard all week hoping their team can lift their spirits and the moments between people who get to share a special moment together.
Football is intersectional, which is a testament to its reach in society. People proudly wear their teams football shirt on holiday and look forward to derby day so they can brag to friends and colleagues the next day.
People wear football tops to festivals, raves and anywhere they feel their teams football shirt is more than just a kit and is a fashion statement and I think designers know this as some of the shirts over the last 10 years are more colourful and detailed.
Frames of Football is available to buy online, and you can follow Alfonso and his the ongoing series on Instagram.
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