Bloemfontein

The Free State Stadium  (also now known as Vodacom Park) in Bloemfontein was the first stadium i photographed on this trip. In general it was quite a bland and typical-looking for what it was; oval-shaped, with two tiers of seating, and the only distinguishable feature on it was the western side of seating which was more elevated than the others, and separated from the other 3 sides. Situated between a small park and a shopping mall, it seemed to have integrated itself well with it's surroundings, and has found it's place within the city. The stadium itself has existed since 1995, built for the Rugby World Cup, with only slight modifications for the FIFA World Cup (the western side had an additional tier of seats built, upgrades to the floodlighing and media facilities, and new turnstiles), and it seems has already become an established structure within the cityscape.

Looking back on it now it was probably one of the more boring stadiums, but i still remember it fondly because of the optimism but also trepidation which i felt when i started photographing it. I had the feeling that this was what the last 6 months of planning and thinking and hoping have finally led up to, and it was incredibly exciting.

After that we bought some sandwiches from Woolworth's which were not as good as they looked. Since Bloemfontein i have photographed 6 more stadiums, have seen my optimism deflate and subsequently arise several times, i have grown as a human being, and decided to never buy anything from Woolworth's again.

cheers,

oskar