All the harsh realism of inner city weekend football is laid bare in John Bolloten’s book, Field Of Broken Dreams.
This photographic record of Bradford’s lower league weekend football scene is about as far removed from big game glamour as it is possible to get.
Yet John’s black and white photographs will strike a chord with anyone who has ever laced up their boots for a bitterly cold Sunday morning run out.
He spent a season following adult weekend football in the lowest leagues around Bradford and put together a hard hitting set of pictures that feature in his sold out book, Field of Broken Dreams – from which John is now offering exclusive prints.
If it’s glamour in the game you are after, then you’ll be disappointed. For these pictures are all about the grit and determination of groups of lads, and a handful of devoted followers, who meet week in, week out.
They are haunting images, stark, brutal, captured in Bradford’s bleak mid winter. Packed with realism. Flare ups and spark ups… with apparently the odd joint helping lift flagging spirits. Joy and despair, John’s pictures capture it all.
It’s not just about the football. This is real life and you can feel his understanding of the culture that draws these men together.
“Living in the inner-city of Bradford, a lot of my photography has been done here, ” said John. “I was, and still am, interested in long-term pieces of work that focus on the largely working-class and inner-city experience of Bradford. This is where one will find the most diversity of the city’s inhabitants.”
His professional background is music. A successful producer, recording artist and heavily involved in the club and radio scene, he was in his 40’s when he picked up a camera and turned his focus on Bradford, his home since his late teens.
An early project was club cricket, enjoying the warmth of the weather as much as the welcome he received when he turned up to take his pictures, featured in another book, Shabash.
But that proved a far cry from the reception he got when he turned his focus on football as the long cold wet winter days came accompanied by occasional hostility and suspicion.
“I guess people were just getting paranoid when they saw the camera,” he said. “There were some smoking cannabis. I wanted to take their pictures, and they were quite paranoid about that.”
But he stuck with it as trust was won and he could get on with capturing the moments that bring Field of Broken Dreams to life.
Small wonder that the acclaimed Sir Don McCullin has been an inspiration. McCullin’s lifelong work saw him cover not just wars and global conflict, but also the less glamorous side of urban life, his in depth gritty portrayals earning him a knighthood in his 80’s.
“He connects with people, talks to them, “says John. “You can’t go to university to learn that.”
“I photograph people, and their sub cultures, on the margins of society. That’s what really interests me”.
Music comes into the mix here. John’s latest project is called Generation Grime, based on the influence of grime music, and its effect on communities from all walks of life.
“White, black, Asian, mixed race, refugees, they’re all rapping grime,” says John who has identified another subject into which he can immerse himself, and his camera, for another in depth study of real people and real life, concentrating again on Bradford’s multi racial, diverse community.
John Bolloten’s books, like Field of Broken Dreams, capture it all.
You can keep up with John and all his ongoing projects by following him on Instagram and he can be contacted directly via his website for commissions.
