I really don't think England is going to get far in the world cup :)
Anyway, I must say I like the reflection and colors of it. The flag makes a good contrast to the dark buildings in the back.

I thought the same thing but I haven't taken any good shots of England flags yet. My spider-sense is telling me there's a reverse S-curve onthe blue channel here, yes?

I gotta say I prefere a swedish win tomorrow since im swedish but hey; the shot is lovely and I hope for a hard and interesting match. May the best team win :)

Kjetil you may yet be proved wrong... I have a sneaking feeling that England could soon ignite... Regards the image.. This is more like it and I love the multicultural aspect with the inclusion of Halal.. Billy Bragg has rightly been campaigning for the return of the Saint George's Cross to all types of English citizens.. and I'm with him on that.. The inclusion of the blue hues give it a British feel too, subtle aspects of the Union Jack/Flag.
I'm a Mancunian exiled happily in Germany and dedicating the whole of my blog to my experiences at the World Cup in Deutschland right upto the final in July . Oh.. and Kjetil, I nearly forgot, you're not Swedish are you? ;}
All the best.

As a foreigner, I understand that you have some kind of message in this picture. It must be a political one. I don´t see any photographical values in it. ;-)

Oh ! Sorry, I didn´t understand it´s football......"the meaning of life" :-)

England will go all the way if they didnt meet "Argentina" oh yaah Rooney is back! cool shot :)

The World Cup's about national pride. Supporting your country and laughing at others... notably France last night :-D

I love that the flag in the pic is one of those meant for a car, minus the pole and put-up with masking tape instead.

I like this picture, not because I love football, cos I don't, but I've seen so many non-english people in shops buying england shirts, even tho they could just wear their own teams colors, but I guess if they wore Saudi arabian shirts, or...whatever, then our proud british chavs will only throw stuff at them, I just find it all funny, and sad, and I'm guessing that this is why you saw this as a good photo oppurtunity....no?

Really like this shot. Been looking and thinking about taking a shot like this for some time before it's too late. Strange though the perspective of flags in window, in Europe, it's more than common place! Personally think England will surprise a few people...the best is yet to come!

Nice composition and reflections but not that exciting at all.

Allah is in the details. Nice shot, and a subtle tongue-in-cheek touch. Thumbs up for composing the shot that way.

East meets West. Interesting post, if not technically your best.

smart and effective. great shot!

Over here in Oldham (NW England) there's a banner that reads "England for the cup!" followed by "Inshallah" which sums it up nicely.

The reclamation of St Georges cross from the racist far right has a significance that bears repeated recognition especially in the more fraught parts of northern England.

Who says that photographic values have to be aesthetic ones? And from a local perspective this shot is one of the most exciting pictures you've ever taken.

Very, very cool!

It's fairly insulting to use someones photoblog comment system as a discussion board, but I have to answer you croz :)
No, I'm not swedish. I'm norwegian, and we didn't even make it to the world cup. But still, I really don't think England is going to make it that far.

And since this is a comment about a certain photo, I have one more thing to say about it. I'm just curious why you specificly included the word Halal into the frame. I know you use a lot of time to consider what to include in your photos, and I'm just curious about your choice. You could have decided to not include it, and it would still be a neat photo. And I also feel that the word Halal is a bit distracting from the flag, if that is what you intended to be your "focus point".

maybe to balance with the flag which also has red colors.
I thinks it's good, not distacting at all

I like the Halal thing because it contrasts the flag... The photo was taken in England. Arabic people in Britain, commited to eat "kosher" (halal), hang up a flag to support the English national team which plays football in Germany. This makes me smile. What crazy world do we live in.

In hungarian (i'm hungarian), the word halál means death ...

Like you, I'm not very found of football but like to watch a good game from the portuguese selection. Portugal will play against Mexico this wednesday and I'll put a photo of a portuguese flag. You will not believe how many portuguese flags are in the balconies of all buildings and houses here.

DN stuff is always fantastic visually....... and I really love it when it also works on another level......When it presents social or political issues or themes......The juxtaposition of 'The Cross of St. George' (the flag of England and its football team) combined with the word 'Halal' with all its significance for the 'followers of the Prophet' (Muslims). The immigrants adopting their host countries passions? Or an attempt at immunization, representing their fear of the host country mens wrath? Its all here in this simple composition.

I really hope the people of this slightly down at heel Halal butchers are actually having a great time watching the world cup and cheering for Beckham and the rest of the lads. Weirdly much as it has potential for division and hatred, football is also one of the worlds most powerful uniting forces, its a language almost universally understood unlike different cultures or religions. I am a Brit living in the USA, soccer is certainly making converts here (more surprisingly perhaps so is Islam) !

GO SWEDEN!!! :-D

Today Henrik Larsson will score, I think.... I hope. Do not forget that the last time England defeated Sweden was back in 1968.

I feel all the teams, specially the big ones, are still a little self-concious and nervous about the world cup and are not able to play their natural game. This is a nice shot, I like how the flag has been pasted with tape. Is this a meat shop?

I just noticed how the left edge of the piece of tape on left matches the right edge of the tape on right.

In line with your recent comment:

"But, and this is becoming an increasingly big 'but' for me, it doesn't seem to say much. And that goes for a lot of the early stuff I posted: eye-catching, but mute."

this picture seems to have all the traditional strengths of chromasia and it isn't mute.

Hi there, I'm not fond of football too, even if I live in italy (and lots of people here look at me as I was a little weird).

Anyway, world cup is world cup. See you on the grass, Dave ... ;o)

[Ah, uhm, can't find this shot very interesting, but your image notes have gained lot of attention!]

Could not care less about football, or the millions of these flags stuck up everywhere by temporary patriotic so-called supporters. where are they the rest of the year? watch them slowly disapear after the competition . I like this site and often visit, and hope this is momentary laps in you're otherwise brilliant site is over.

Kjetil,

Let me apologise to all concerned if I havein anyway abused DJN's photoblog as quickly alleged by Kjetil. I certainly had no intention to, neither did I intend to use this area as a discussion board, I merely responded to your comment about England not going far in the World Cup...

First of all, I thought the point of photoblog comment areas was to comment on images and the implications they have socially, etc, etc furthermore documentary and social images that examine and/or allude to the multicultural nature of British society like this are most probably shot with the intention to document and raise discussions.

Anyhow If you wish to comment further you can leave whatever comment you like on my photoblog.

Oh.. and I nearly forgot.. good luck to Norway in qualifying for World Cup 2010:}
Peace...

Thanks all.

Jamey: yep, well spotted :-)

croz/Kjetil: I don't have a problem with people pursuing related discussions - that's fine.

Everybody: visually, this isn't especially striking, but as a number of people noticed the combination of the English flag and the word 'halal' does provide a positive take on contemporary multiculturalism in Britain. It was that that drew me to this shot.

haha! Halal England. I find that funny... Im sure you know what a 'Halal; sign means...

Halal is used to describe anything permissible under Islamic law, this includes behavior, speech, dress, conduct, manner and dietary laws. This sign was in the window of a Pizza take away.

Clever stuff David from a statement point of view with the image, but as a photo it's not making me excited really.

:-)

nice... I like how the word Halal is just hanging there in the background. :o)

Time to delurk (again).

As someone trying to convince (in an online forum) right wing Christian Americans that we over here are actually allowed to fly the English flag in our own country, I'd love to be able to link directly to this image.

I know I can't, but thanks for the picture anyway.