Born and raised in Forest Gate, East London, right on the doorstep of Green Street, photographer Charn started his love affair with Arsenal thanks to Ian Wright. “My family had never been into football,” he explains, “So the journey into supporting Arsenal literally began after seeing an Ian Wright goal in 1993, and my two cousins and I saying to each other, ‘We should start supporting Arsenal.'”
As Charn readily admits, it wasn’t exactly the most exhilarating introduction to becoming an Arsenal fan.
However, since those days he’s experienced nearly every emotion possible, going from Highbury to Heaven and Hell and back as Arsenal put their fans through the wringer.
In the last 30 years, Charn has witnessed the changing of the guard from George Graham to Arsene Wenger. He has watched on in awe as the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry took the Gunners into an era of invincibility. He has felt the joy of his club winning the Premier League and the heartbreak of losing the Champions League.
He saw Wenger’s reign slowly come to a sad end as fans pleaded for change and experienced Emery at the Emirates as the club slumped from one disaster to the next.
Much has changed since then with Mikel Arteta grabbing the club by the scruff of the neck and restoring pride and identity.
Throughout this journey, Charn has captured the many highs and lows of life on the Lower North Bank and beyond.
His work has even caught the eye of the club, who he has now worked with in collaboration on a number of occasions.
“The collaborations with Arsenal have been absolutely unreal because it’s something I never set out to do at all, or even thought about.
“Each time I get asked feels like being asked for the first time, and I don’t think that feeling will ever change.
“Hopefully, I haven’t scared them, and they ask me to shoot a bit more next season.”
As Charn officially launched his Lower North Bank website, which highlights his incredible images, we sat down with him to talk Arteta, pre-match rituals, and his ultimate Arsenal 11.
THAT THIERRY HENRY GOAL
I have so many favourite memories as an Arsenal fan. A fair few which are from the ’90s.
Watching Dennis Bergkamp score the winning goal at my first-ever game at Highbury in 1998 against Sheffield Wednesday is definitely up there. What a goal.
I can vividly remember Alan Smith’s goal in the Cup Winners Cup final. Then of course there was THAT Thierry Henry goal against Man Utd when he lobbed Fabian Barthez.
I’d say that Dennis Bergkamp’s goal away against Sunderland in 1997 in my favourite ever Arsenal Shirt is something I’ll never forget.
Then there are moments like seeing my first-ever Arsenal league win in the 97/98 season and capturing an image of Thierry Henry during his celebration in his Arsenal comeback goal against Leeds in the F.A Cup.
I DIDN’T WANT TO TAKE IT FOR GRANTED ANYMORE
For as long as I can remember, my dad used to have a fair few cameras, so they were always around the house and I always had a camera with me during my college and uni years.
My main pathway into shooting actually started via my profession as a retoucher. I used to work on a lot of macro beauty, and that led me to buy my first DSLR to test out shooting macro images of my own.
I soon got introduced to Fujifilm cameras and purchased one for a BTS-style camera, and that’s what ultimately led me to shoot at the football from my personal point of view a good few years later.
Being locked out of football during COVID-19 is what drew me into capturing match days as I didn’t want to take it for granted any more.
It all originally started with just one obligatory wide-angle shot from my seat each game, and that soon snowballed into my Instagram account growing pretty fast, and demand from local fans, and overseas fans asking for a bit more content.
I would describe my style as POV, as it shows the game exactly how I see it. I like to use fans around me in the stands to help frame images of players and give shots that aren’t always perfect.
I’VE LOST COUNT OF THE TIMES BEER HAS BEEN THROWN
My favourite images to capture are the fans on the concourse pre-game, especially when there are flags involved.
There’s just something so raw and powerful about capturing images of fans while they’re chanting and singing with everyone, that shows so much passion.
I’ve lost count of the times beer has been thrown around and landed all over my camera, but it’s totally worth it if I get the shots I want.
THE PRE-MATCH RITUAL
My pre-match ritual almost always starts on Blackstock Road. We’ll meet for a few beers at the Arsenal Tavern or the Bank of Friendship, and then make our way to the ground to catch up with other friends and help get involved with the singing and chanting for the atmosphere.
As I’m pretty well known by most of the fans on the concourse in the North Bank, they know it’s just a matter of time before I pull out one of my cameras to start shooting.
When I’m doing anything for the club, then I of course won’t be on the beers or anything. There are also times when I just don’t bother shooting at all because I fancy an afternoon off.
THE BOND BETWEEN FANS AND PLAYERS
I’m really hoping that we can finally pass that Man City hurdle and lift the Premier League again. The last couple of years have been pretty emotionally draining, having lost out by fine margins.
They have also been brilliant as the fans have been galvanised and fully back the team and Arteta. Next season will be no different at all, and probably be even better.
The connection between the fans and the club had slowly been eroding away, but the appointment of Arteta and his drive towards bridging that gap has certainly disappeared.
Being an ex-player, and witnessing a lot of the issues himself certainly helped in aiding to recreate the bond between fans and players again.
MY ALL-TIME ARSENAL ELEVEN
This is a tough one, but I’m going to base it on the players that I have seen in my own time supporting the club.
- Goalkeeper: David Seaman
- Defenders: Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Tony Adams, Bacary Sagna
- Midfielders: Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva
- Attackers: Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp, Freddie Ljungberg
- Striker: Thierry Henry
All our thanks to Charn.
You can check out his new website here and to follow him on social media click here