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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
During the Mole de Mayo Festival in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, young mariachi players perform between Lucha matches. Pilsen has been an immigrant community for over 150 years. Originally mainly composed on Eastern Europeans, it later became home to a majority Latino immigrants. This lower east side neighborhood is going through a gentrification and many families are being now displaced or priced out of their homes.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Mojo McQueen (front) and Firelord Draconis (back) make their entrance so as to begin their fight. Often times the prologue to a fight includes theatrical displays of what a Lucha character is all about. Mojo McQueen's voodoo dance and smoke are his trademark.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
During the Mole de Mayo, a yearly mole sauce competition in the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago, a luchador demonstrates his high flying aerial jump during a Lucha Libre show.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Merchandising is an important financial support for the luchadores who mostly participate as a labor of love rather than a lucrative financial undertaking.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Young Angel is wearing the mask of his super hero during an intermission where luchadores get to meet and greet and sign autographs for their fans.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Onyx Andretti flies into a move against his opponent. 17 year old Onyx Andretti is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and later during the same match split his head open when after a move he hit his head on the mat. Blood was pouring out while the emergency help was summoned. In the end, he was all right.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
The crowd attending a Lucha Libre match is often comprised of working class families. The crowd is an essential part of Lucha Libre and often participates by shouting obscenities or ridicule the Rudos or the fighter who is not their favorite. At times the fighters may even request suggestions about what to do with their enemy. "Pineda" is a shout often heard when suggestions are sought.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
GPA squirms in agony while being held in a choke-hold by Eliot Paul during a Lucha match in Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Skayde Junior Autentico bleeds from his forehead after a particularly fearsome match in which he almost lost his mask. Losing a mask during a Lucha fight where the identity of the luchador becomes known is an ultimate humiliation. During some matches, the fighters fight for masks where the loser is publicly unmasked. Once unmasked, the luchador will never be allowed to fight while wearing a mask.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Future generation Latinos are mesmerized by the pageantry and the super hero personas presented to them during a Lucha fight. Each luchador enters the arena before the fight in a spectacular fashion designed to showcase their persona's prowess and fighting capabilities.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Storm Grayson makes his very suggestive entrance and greets his fans before his match.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Like a fallen angel, Bandolero "Billy" Star is held by his opponents and beaten to a pulp during a match at the Galli Lucha Libre in Villa Park, Illinois.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Mojo McQueen remains the undisputed campion of Galli Lucha Libre after winning against Marshe Rockett.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Children's enthusiasm for their favorite luchador's winning move is tangible. After each match, children request autograph from their favorite fighters who generally are patient with their fans.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Rudos (the evil ones) often get into a verbal assault with the member of the public. Spectators are an integral part of the lucha libre and their participation, either rooting for their favorite luchador or insulting the luchador they disfavor is an expectation of the spectacle. Skayde Junior Autentico, says he likes to be a rudo because it allows him to freely taunt the spectators and his opponents during a match.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
17 year old Onyx Andretti from Milwaukee, Wisconsin split his head open when after a move he hit his head. Blood was pouring out while the emergency help was summoned. In the end, he was all right.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Eye Candy rolls onto his head after making a flying jump onto his opponent.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Young spectators' face show the degree with which the violence in each match can affect them.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Onyx Andretti prepared to charge his opponent during a match shortly before he was injured in a move where he suffered a gash in his skull.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Each luchador enters the ring performing a spectacle based on their persona. Great care is taken in making the right entrance with enough panache and defiance.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
In a duck costume and only making quacking noise, Kung Fu Pato jumps from the ropes against a his opponent, a member of the Los Pyasos.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Skayde Junior Autentico bleeds from his forehead after a particularly fearsome match in which he almost lost his mask.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
After having been hit in the groin, A.J. Romo, the referee squirms in pain in the ring while Golden Dragon looks for his opponent. Lucha Libre is one of the very few sports in which the referee is sometimes fair game. A.J. became a referee four years ago on a whim-he was asked by a friend and he just said: "OK."
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Bandolero "Billy" Star, who holds a tag team championship title, greets his fans before his fight. He fights both the American Style and the Mexican Style of wrestling.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Furia Roja holds the Galli Championship Title. He has been a luchador for eight years and is a native Chicagoan. He holds on to his Title while waiting backstage for his fight to be called.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Bandolero "Billy" Star, who holds a tag team championship title, laces his boots in preparation for his fight. He lost his mask a few years ago during a fight and so his identity is now known. Though he believes both are good, he says: "American style is more easier" because it does not require such high flying acrobatics the Mexican Lucha is known for.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Bandolero "Billy" Star's cape drapes a punching bag.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Shotzi Blackheart a/k/a Ballsy Badass from the Black Lagoon prepares herself for he upcoming fight.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
During training, Skayde Junior Autentico teaches a young luchador various slapping and hitting techiniquea that while looks spectacular, does not end up hurting him or his opponent too much.
Note: The fighters wore their masks during the training because of the presence of the photographer. In normal sessions, they do not wear their masks.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
During training luchadores fight and train together.
Note: The fighters wore their masks during the training because of the presence of the photographer. In normal sessions, they do not wear their masks.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Brad Kevins does not attempt to hide his pain when he gets hurt-- a luchador has no qualm in displaying his pain and its intensity for all to see.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
Lucha Libre would not be the same without the spectator participation. In fact, spectators are expected to interact with the luchadors and express their enthusiasm and disapproval as loudly as possible.
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© 2021 Nima Taradji Photography
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Religion is an ever present staple wherever Lucha is performed. Belief in God is strong among the luchadores.
Public Story
Lucha Libre
Credits:
nima taradji photography
Date of Work:
08/10/15 - Ongoing
Updated: 07/09/18
In 2015, I started work on a personal project about Mexican Wrestling or Lucha Libre. This sport is unique in many ways, but most commonly due to the costumed masked individual wrestlers that participate.
Lucha Libre, as it is today, first came into existence in 1933 during the Great Depression when the gap between the rich and the poor was as significant as it is today. It was a time of deep injustice felt by those of limited means to the benefit of those of seemingly unlimited means. Lucha Libre bouts exploited the economic uncertainty of the time, while depicting palpable disparities between those who could enjoy opportunity and those who could not. The story of the Lucha Libre is the story about the proletarian struggle for justice. A justice that, in real life, is often non-existent, but in the world of fantasy happens on a regular basis. Lucha Libre depicts this struggle unfolding in the ring: the fantastical struggle between the Good (Tecnicos) and the Evil Rudos). In the ring Evil counterparts are regularly literally beaten by the Good.
The Tecnicos represent the God-fearing farmers and workers engaged in honest struggle to survive while facing daily assault by those who wield power over them. Rudos represent the oppressors: factory owners, landowners, managers, politicians, and the law enforcement officers at their service. Lucha Libre embodies the proletarian struggle for justice: a justice that, in real life, is often non-existent but in the fantastical world of the ring happens on a regular basis. Each match, Lucha, depicts this struggle.
The actual wrestlers (luchadores), in addition to being committed athletes they also commit to secrecy regarding their true identity. The luchadore character is not just a persona assumed in the ring in front of screaming fans – it is a persona that is consistently maintained in all connections with Lucha Libre and, as a result, the masked fighters cannot be photographed without their mask to protect their identity.
Mexico City is the Mecca of Lucha Libre. Every Friday night a mostly working class crowd gathers around a ring to watch their favorite luchadores spectacularly prevail over evil in an impressive choreographed fight. Similarly, just outside Chicago, sponsored by Galli Lucha LIbre, a smaller but no less enthusiastic crowd gathers around a ring in Villa Park every Sunday evening.
Note: This is an ongoing project
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