Flags and hardcore fans

This research builds on previous work such as  Maritima Ultra , where Simon Bouillère immerses himself in the intimate atmosphere of an ultras fan section, as well as in the whole  Deviations , where the photographer wanders through the highlights of soccer to capture and notice the small clues that make the stands and their surroundings places of encounter and passage—sometimes bustling, sometimes deserted; always bearing witness to the people and the passage of time. 

Simon Bouillère will draw on images of Saint-Étienne fans taken in 1976 byJean-Louis Schoellkopf and preserved at the Institute to examine, in particular, what has changed, what remains, and what is no longer present within fan culture in France. 

To offer some possible answers to these questions, the idea would be to launch—right inside the stadiums themselves, in Saint-Étienne, Valenciennes, and Lens, a photographic inventory of fans’ flags and tifos—key symbols of group identity. Indeed, there is no sport or  fan culture  without colors. Some fans make them by hand, adding to them or modifying them over the years as their favorite clubs progress. 

A flag is therefore a piece of fabric steeped in history, stories, and personal and collective myths—ranging from the emblem of a group or club to a tribute to a deceased person, and including political statements.