Maybe someone like Johan Cruijff will occasionally take a polaroid of his latest shirt in the dressing room. And pin it to the wall in his hobby room. And so someone had to start taking polaroids. Of football shirts. Johan Cruijff's football shirts.
It was essentially a very simple assignment. No technical knowledge was required, on the contrary, because it had to look like someone with two left hands had taken those photos. The hardest part would be getting hold of the shirts. Because we couldn't go for less than the original material, of course.
I will never forget that Johan Cruijff's brother Henri unexpectedly showed up on my doorstep with a cardboard moving box. It was on a Monday around dinner time. He said: 'Can I come and get them again on Thursday?' and he winked: 'I counted them, you know!'
There I was. In a room on the second floor in the Rozenprieel in Haarlem. With a cardboard box containing all the original match shirts worn by Johan Cruijff. Of Ajax of course, but also of Barcelona, Feyenoord, the Dutch national team etc. For fans, that box is worth gold. Better that as few people as possible know that I have those things at home.
The photos had to be taken in the catacombs of the Olympic stadium and the Watergraafsmeer. Both were in a state of demolition. But the changing rooms at both locations were still completely intact. The agreement was that we could go on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On the road with the original shirts of one of the greatest football legends ever. I didn't want to think about anything happening to them. So I asked the towering Sven R. to come with me for two days as an assistant.
We visited the various locations and shot a large number of polaroids. Shirts hanging on hooks and hangers. As I said. Not a difficult assignment. But in retrospect one of the most fun I have ever done. We couldn't resist photographing ourselves in the Watergraafsmeer, each wearing such a shirt.
The advertisement? It wasn't special and didn't appear in many magazines. But I still have it. In the attic. With the polaroids.
