Jim Dow's photography of West Ham at Boleyn Ground in London was featured on the Financial Times. Dow spoke deeply on his connection with the stadium.
Jim Dow, The treatment room at West Ham's Boleyn Ground, 1985
Jim Dow, The Club Shop, 1985
Boston born Jim Dow first visited West Ham stadium in 1980 for a Charity Shield Match and was immediately hooked. He shares "There as is nothing similar back home to match the raucous bonding, edgy wit and the frisson of anticipation that a British football crowd evokes." West Ham "was packed full of the people just described as well as the most idiosyncratic nooks and crannies, everywhere decorated with the crossed hammers that game the team its famous nickname."
The Stadium had a profound impact on Dow:
"I returned as soon as I could to photograph the club with the wooden 8x10in view camera that I have always used. In order to capture the full sweep of the ground, I made three different exposures that were then pieced together to make a single, panoramic image (late examples shown overleaf). . . Whenever I've been in England, Ive always returned to West Ham to attend matches and make photographs."
Above: Panorama of the Boleyn Ground as seen from the Chicken Run terrace, 1990
Below: Same vantage point, 2016
West Ham was scheduled for demolition and relocation to Olympic Park. News of the move prompted Dow for one last shot to make another portrait of the stadium.
"When I heard they were moving to the Olympic Park, and the old stadium was to be demolished, I wanted to go back one last time to create a photographic bookend; homage to a place where much has changed over the years but a great deal has not."
Read the entire article on ft.com.