Body slams and super fans! An indie wrestling diary in pictures | Art and design

Sofie Vasquez travelled the US to capture independent professional wrestlers many of whom still had the scars to show for it Mee-Lai Stone Thu 14 Jul 2022 02.00EDT Last modified on Fri 22 Jul 2022 08.50EDT

Body slams and super fans! An indie wrestling diary – in pictures

Sofie Vasquez travelled the US to capture independent professional wrestlers – many of whom still had the scars to show for it

@mlestone Main image: No holds barred … Willow Nightingale and Allie Katch wrestle during a 24-hour event in an abandoned music venue in Philadelphia Photograph: Sofie Vasquez

Thu 14 Jul 2022 02.00 EDT Last modified on Fri 22 Jul 2022 08.50 EDT

  • Cassandro El Exotico, October 2020

    Before his match against Sonny Kiss at Effy’s Big Gay Brunch, a pro wrestling event showcasing LGBTQ+ talent, famed luchador Cassandro takes a moment for himself.Sofie Vasquez is part of the BDC (Bronx Documentary Center) films fellowship programme, which invites traditionally under-represented documentary film-makers to participate in a free year-long programme. Fellows will screen work on 16 July. All photographs: Sofie Vazquez

  • Dark Sheik, October 2021

    West coast wrestler Dark Sheik goes against The King of Chaos in an underground show in Brooklyn. ‘From 2020 to 2021, I was travelling with independent wrestlers to shows across the States primarily as a photographer, but I was experimenting with Super 8 and iPhone video for my own archive,’ says Sofie Vasquez

  • Ziggy Haim, April 2022

    At Enjoy Wrestling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ‘When I was 19,’ Vasquez continues, ‘I began my first project, Bronx Wrestling, which was about the lucha libre subculture in the Bronx, until I was 21, when the pandemic and quarantine occurred. During the quarantine, I broadened my horizons beyond my borough and discovered the indies of the US and saw how every state had their own original territory and culture that matched no other’

  • Willow and Allie, January 2021

    Willow Nightingale and Allie Katch wrestle during a 24-hour live event in an abandoned music venue in Philadelphia. ‘My photographs capture the moments and the wrestlers I so deeply admire, but with video you can hear their voices and see their craftsmanship in real time’

  • MV Young, June 2021

    Pittsburgh wrestler MV Young relaxes during the intermission at Heavy Metal Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas. ‘Using analogue and digital cameras, as well as creating polaroids, this project is a candid portrayal and personal understanding of indie wrestling and its world while mirroring the story of a photographer who began travelling by themselves for the first time’

  • Eddy McQueen, July 2021

    The Mother of House of McQueen at the Polyam Cult Party 4 in Brooklyn. ‘The life of an indie wrestler equates to that of a rock’n’roll star on tour, minus the unlimited budget. If you started training early, like most did at 16 or younger, this is all you know and so you’re willing to sacrifice everything for it’

  • Speedball vs Lee Moriarty, Enjoy Wrestling, April 2022

    In Moriarty’s home town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ‘I’ve seen wrestlers without insurance willingly collide their scarred bodies against light tubes, barbed wire, and even doors on fire,’ says Vasquez

  • Bryan Keith, January 2022

    The Bounty Hunter at the Brooklyn Death Match. Vasquez writes: ‘I’ve been in long car rides for a one-night-only gig that could be a make it or break it opportunity. I’ve seen broke men, women, and non-binary athletes being stiffed on pay after they’ve put their body on line out in the ring’

  • Devon Monroe, June 2021

    Devon Monroe, a wrestler from the Midwest, performs at Paris is Bumping II - the first ever pro wrestling and ballroom event. ‘Yet,’ adds Vasquez, ‘despite the shortcomings that would follow around anyone who is in pursuit of their dreams, I’ve been moved to tears by a crowd’s roar when a wrestler walks through that curtain’

  • Warhorse and Kylie, July 2020 and July 2021

    A diptych that pairs a portrait of Missourian wrestler Warhorse in Atlantic City, New Jersey and Kylie, a wrestling superfan donning Warhorse’s signature makeup in Chicago, Illinois

  • EFFY and Danhausen, October 2020

    Portrait of the tag team Gaytanic Panic before their match in a rural Indianapolis fairground. ‘State to state, I’ve travelled with them with the intent to not only document their adventures but to also capture the friendships, the Americana, the glamour, the ugly, the humour and the hard work of this world,’ says Vasquez. ‘All of the layers of professional wrestling that are wrapped into the lives of people I’ve deemed not only as my friends but also my biggest inspirations’

  • Dooby, October 2021

    T2T wrestling student Dooby debuts in an underground show in Brooklyn. ‘As a BDC film fellow, I’m expanding upon the project of documenting professional wrestling on the road by creating a short road diary that details my travels to more out of state wrestling shows,’ says Vasquez
Topics

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJmiqa6vsMOeqqKfnmS0orjLnqmyZ2Jlf3N7ya6jaGlkZK%2BwsNhmqqWZnah6orrDZqquqJWneqetzaxkmqZdnrultcRmrqudo6m5qrrGZpuimaKueqq6jKmgnKylp7K0

 Share!