The Jolly Rouge

Happy New Year!

I've become 'one of them' by joining a gym on the 1st day of the year and as a way of pushing my photography & fitness I was going to blip everyday that I didn't attend the gym, in a quirky attempt to see how often I won't use my membership. My blip year project was going to be called 'Reasons I'm still fat'.

That was until I logged in after some time away to discover all the changes here, which I'm personally not a fan of. Late on in 2014 I started seeing things from a different prospective which this place falls into.

In November I visited Hamburg & more importantly the St Pauli (red light district) quarter of the city. Not only is it home to legal prostitution its also home to Squatters, Punks & a cult second division football team called FC St Pauli.

Whats has that got to do with anything? FC St Pauli is a team heavily run by its fans & residents (yes Punks, Squatters & Sex workers) & while doing so it regards many other factors more important than the football it plays, such as anti-fascism, anti-homophobia & most of all (as not to lose it's identity) it makes a stand against anti-commercialism. 
Due to this they are seen as the outsiders of German football & labeled the buccaneers (The Pirates), which only makes them more resilient & more passionate.

Despite this changing my view on football I also fell in love with the club & how its ran, sadly I'm a Liverpool fan & if you look though my Blips you'll see I'm quite a regular to Anfield. This year Liverpool's ticket prices finally broke through the £50 barrier for me (I sit in the cheapest seats too), that added with travel, parking & maybe a beer or two takes an afternoon at the match to way over £70. Unlike FC St Pauli much of that money goes into the pockets of an owner.

So since then my interest in this second division German team has grew & grew as my loathing of modern day football grows. One day (if prices carry on increasing) my allegiances might even change.

Why the title? FC St Pauli have adopted the black & white Totenkopf (skull & crossbones) as their symbol, from time to time though fans can be seen waving red & black Totenkopf's as a way of telling the club they are not happy with dealings off pitch. These flags are called the Jolly Rouge.

Which brings me to Polaroid | BlipFoto. I'm fully aware of Polaroids massive part it played in the history of film & instant photography, but that was all undone with any attempts they made in the digital realm. Now they have their name on a successful digital platform made by someone else.

The sigma the name carries these days is of poor quality cheap TV's & while this is not a rant, I feel BlipFoto is losing it's identity by not doing it the FC St Pauli way..

FORZA SANKT PAULI!!