OOF #10 Pele Cries Cover

Forget individuality, forget independence and selfhood: true joy can only be found in the collective, in the crowd. That's what issue ten is about: the collective experience, the overwhelming power of losing yourself in the group. Robert Davies' photos of iconic World Cup moments – screenshots before screenshots were a thing – capture single tiny instances of immense cultural importance; Gareth Nyandoro paints the football shirts that hang in markets in Harare just like they do in the shops of Paris; Noa Klagsbald finds unity in the midst of the conflict; Jamie Holman reveals his infatuation with the cool kids on the terraces; Mark Titchner speaks words of wisdom and heartbreak; Bob Thomas surfs a wave of humanity in an undulating photo of a stadium; and then, there's some football scarves. It's all about the ecstasy of collective emotion. That's football. That's life.