The passion that washes the streets when it comes to football is like nothing else in South America. Capturing such vibrant spirit, photographer Gabriel Uchida documents the Graffiti that graces hallowed turf.
Gabriel Uchida has a unique knack for being able to bottle the spirit of football fandom. The beauty of this collection, much like his Cuban Football series, is that it's the silence that echoes. Whether a crowded environment or empty streets, there is plenty of visual noise and that is presented once more as teams of respective clubs mark their territory with graffiti emphasising the passion they have for their team.
In providing a narrative for his vision, Gabriel explains; The main point to understand the football culture in Argentina is the connections between clubs and neighborhoods. For them both things are almost the same, so you’re proud of your area and you love the local team at the same intensity. That’s why they are almost synonymous. The club Ferro Carril Oeste belongs to the area of Caballito and their ultras group (in Argentina they are known as “barra brava”) is called “La Banda 100% Caballito”. Notice that they use the name of their neighborhood rather than the club because it’s basically the same meaning. And according to their football culture, spreading graffitis on their areas is also a way to demonstrate not only their proud of it but also their power and passion. So considering the rivalry of football, it’s also important to erase your enemy’s graffiti or to “destroy” it by introducing bad words. 
This “battle” is quite easy to see at Avellaneda because there are two big clubs there, Racing and Independiente and their stadiums are too close to each other, a distance of less then 300 meters. That’s why it’s almost impossible to find a big graffiti in the area because it will probably be destroyed by rival fans in the same day. Another interesting fact about Argentinian football graffiti is that they have and unique old school style and because it’s part of the football culture, the paintings will be probably be made by normal fans, not street artists.
An incredible glimpse onto the football loving streets of Argentina, you can see more of his Gabriel's work here.
