ENQUIRIES   vulvana.williams@irshad.tv

An exhibition of World Cup photography starts at Jealous Gallery in London on June 24th.   The images show Africans at work wearing football shirts with names of European players on their backs.  Photographer Irshad Ashraf travelled the continent by land, buying film locally to shoot in his trademark documentary style.

“When people found out I was from Manchester their faces would light up, but I sensed few people had any concept of Manchester as a city in England. To them, Manchester was the mythical football team they see on TV, something heavenly and unattainable. So when I noticed the numbers of young men wearing shirts with European players names on, I was arrogant enough to assume this was their way of touching the mythical.”

Shooting by stealth, Irshad preferred natural images to portraits. In DROGBA, a crestfallen figure slips between distant traffic looking lonely. In VIEIRA, a youth looks menacingly to camera, warning the photographer away.

“The shirts looked like donations from charity shops, and I began to see how the clothes we wear are only ours for a short period of their existence. We donate them and they live on in another life in another continent. With the donated clothes I could see our benevolence, but with the names on the backs, I saw our cultural dominance, the contradiction was summed up in these shirts.”

By shooting Africans at work, but focusing on the European names on the back of the shirt, Irshad has captured a trend rooted in our cultural influence over Africa.

ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT IRSHAD ASHRAF. REPRODUCTION,  DISTRIBUTION, COPYING, SAVING IN ANY FORM IN ANY MEDIA IS PROHIBITED.

            DIRECTIONS

Victoria Line or Piccadilly Line  to Finsbury Park and take W7 bus to Crouch End.

Northern Line to Archway and take 41 bus to Crouch End

or call the Gallery 020 8347 7688

   JEALOUS GALLERY

27 Park Road London N8 8TE

0208 347 7688

10 - 6pm Thursday to Saturday. 11 - 4 Sunday.

Closed Monday.