Whilst on a recent jaunt to London I briefly met up with Chris Read, mastermind and creator of the Arsenal Shirt Project.
Chris is attempting to put together a small photographic project based around the Arsenal fans of today. The project consists of a mixture of customised shirts, flags and banners, Arsenal art and original songs and chants.
Chris said “The Arsenal Opus is an amazing book and fantastic compendium of all things Arsenal but it just feels a bit out of reach to the average fan.” Chris would like to put together this project ‘by the fans, for the fans’.
The project will include submissions and Chris wants it to feel very grass roots, authentic and honest. In an ideal world he will be able to print it with the help of a publisher and a percentage of any profits would go towards the designated Arsenal charity that year.
Chris says “I can’t find anything that is close to this project at the moment and if other fans could help me by getting in touch and passing on the message it would be greatly appreciated.”
The reason for the meeting was that Chris wanted to photograph my “half and half” shirt which is made up of the Arsenal and New York Red Bulls shirts, with Henry and the number 14 printed on the back. I had this shirt customised for Thierry Henry’s Exhibition Match, aka The New York Cup, which was played at Red Bull Arena on 26 July 2014. Interestingly enough, or at least for me, Chris showed me a photo of another Arsenal fan who also wears a half and half shirt (the Arsenal home and away colours) who happened to be a guy called Bazza whom I met in New York after the game. I may have been the only person wearing this particular shirt but it turned out I wasn’t the only one who had this idea. A US-based fan, who approached me before the game, had a similar notion in mind and told me to keep my eye out for a banner that would be unfurled at the start of the match. Though, as you can see, I was wearing the mirror image.
You can see more of the photographs Chris has taken of customised shirts at http://cargocollective.com/chrisread/back-chat-personal. If you’re able to help Chris, or know of someone who can, please contact him at [email protected].