Vienna’s derby between FK AUSTRIA WIEN and SK RAPID is one of the oldest and most played derbies in football. It’s the second most played derby in Europe, only the old firm between Glasgow Rangers FC and Celtic Glasgow has more games to the fixture.
It’s full of tradition, rivalry and passion. The derby it’s the game of the season. It meams everything to the supporters. You can loose the championship as long as you win the derby. These are games when players make history, grow to become bigger than life icons to the fans.
This photography project turns the light onto players that rarely make it into the limelight: I portrayed in a long term photo project the special needs teams of both big clubs, FK AUSTRIA WIEN and SK RAPID, shot portraits of all players of both teams of Vienna.
In addition to the portraits in their shirts I questioned them on their views on the game, their club and especially the derby. This work was first published in Ballesterer Fussball Magazine and presented by derstandard.at