© Chris Baker
After one too many injuries, Chris Baker decided to get on the safe side of the sidelines and begin a twoyear documentation of football on the Hackney Marshes.
“Sunday Football is my love letter to the game that consumed me for so many years. The book is a visual celebration of the beloved game at amateur level. An ode to those players that turn up late, hungover and discussing last night’s conquest.”
- Chris Baker
Free to attend exhibition at theprintspace, 74 Kingsland Road - opening night & private view 1st September, exhibtion until 12th September
---
The Hackney Marshes are legendary in football terms. Dubbed the ‘spiritual home of Sunday League Football’, it is where internationally famous footballers such as Bobby Moore, David Beckham and Ian Wright once started out; playing on the very same pitches as the amateur footballers in this new photobook from Hoxton Mini Press.
In 1946, the Hackney and Leyton Sunday League was formed, with hundreds of pitches being built on the foundations of rubble from the Blitz. Seventy years on, the Hackney Marshes now provide over 80 pitches where more than 50 games of football are played each week from September until April, come rain or shine. Photographer Chris Baker decided to document these weekly matches over three seasons in Sunday Football, his first book.
He has managed to capture the drama that unfolds every Sunday down at the Marshes in East London: the passion, the comradery, the arguments, the sweat and tears, the injuries and fights, the cigarettes at half time and the painful struggle of playing with a raging hangover.
Private view at theprintspace: Thursday 1st September, 7.30 - 10pm (No need to RSVP)
About Hoxton Mini Press
Hoxton Mini Press is the smallest imaginable publisher in East London and is run by Martin, a fine art photographer and Ann, who has worked in galleries for many years. They are dedicated to bringing photobooks to a much wider audience and think that as the whole world goes online beautiful books should be cherished. They also have two dogs, Moose and Bug who hate art.
bakerworld.co.uk
hoxtonminipress.com
theprintspace.co.uk
