“My football, what I believe in, is to bring back the supporters to centre stage and that is what I’m always trying to capture with my photography.” That is the football view of fan and amateur photographer Nathalie Schönbeck.
Posting under her Instagram handle aptly named @myfootballview – through her photography Nathalie looks to capture the reality of football culture; it’s rudimentary roots away from mainstream media and the riches that engulf so much of the game.
Inspired by Zlatan and brought closer to the game by her grandfather – Nathalie’s layers of love for the game run deep. From enabling her to spend time with her father as he split from her mother, to identifying with the culture of like minded football fans across Europe.
“My name is Nathalie Schönbeck, I am from Gothenburg, Sweden, and now live in Stockholm.
“I support Djurgårdens IF, and the reason why is because my grandfather was a big supporter. He lived in a small village in southern Sweden where he founded the first supporter group of the whole county. So through my grandfather and my father, my love for Djurgården has flourished for nearly 31 years.
“The club, and football means so much to me: It was the only thing me and my father watched after my parents split up. He had a hard time expressing feelings but watching Djurgården together he shone through and the bond between me, my father and the club was forever cemented there and then. It means watching them from afar living abroad for over a decade. It means celebrating with my father over the phone when they last won a title. It means giving my future kids something to believe in.
“For me Zlatan is an obvious idol growing up. There is no one greater in the history of football. It’s sometimes difficult for people outside Sweden to think of but since we only play football in summertime, due to the weather, most of us follow other European leagues. Alongside Djurgården, I grew up watching Italian football and Marco Materazzi stole my heart early on.
“In 2005, I was 12 years old and saw Djurgården play away in Gothenburg for the title and they won. I ran onto the pitch celebrating and that feeling is still with me today.
“But when I truly understood football culture was when I lived in Berlin. Going to Alten Försterei the first time, seeing what Union Berlin is, and what that club means for the community was a revelation. Now Union Berlin is playing Champions League football, back then they played in Zweite Bundesliga, losing to the likes of Duisburg and Eintracht Braunschweig. Not a single match I went to was not sold out. If you don’t know the history of Union Berlin, you’ve got a brilliant read in front of you.
“‘Football was created by the poor, stolen by the rich’ (Read the now famous banner unveiled by Tunisia’s Club Africain before friendly against PSG). Football has for far too long been about oligarchs, oil money and gazillionaires. Football media today only reports of new transfer records, billions spent every transfer window and yeah, it’s just too much money involved.
“My football, what I believe in, is to bring back the supporters to the centre of the stage and that is what I’m always trying to capture with my photography. Clubs change managers, players and owners but it’s us, the supporters who follow our clubs through thick and thin who are football. 51% of the club should always be owned by the supporters.
“Photographing football culture is all about bringing back the attention to us supporters and the work we do.”
“The football media is obsessed with money and has completely forgotten who football is for, us supporters. I think photographing the football culture is all about bringing back the attention to us supporters and the work we do.
“My focus this year is Djurgården and Allsvenskan. For the first time in a decade I live back in Sweden and I really want to showcase the phenomenal supporter culture we have here. For these photos I used a Fujifilm xt30 (18-55mm and 50-230mm lenses) and Sony Cybershot DSC-W300.
“I’m influenced by lots of people, one of them being Tony Davis, the stories he tells with his photos are just brilliant. The community on Instagram is also fantastic, especially with women in football photography. The feeling is always that we want to try and help each other.
“For my photography, I will always choose a better atmosphere in a football match, rather than the quality. I’m also in the planning phase of a project together with my partner where we will tell the story of supporters and bring them back to the centre of the stage.”
You can follow Nathalie’s work on Instagram and view her portfolio online.
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