How we photographed a Chicago truck driver's pro sumo wrestling debut
This week’s top photo comes from photojournalist Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, and Instagram.
What makes this photo important?
This image showcases a sumo wrestler from the Chicago area clashing with a fellow wrestler in a new professional U.S.-based sumo wrestling league. This event was the league’s second ever event since its inception. So being on the ground level and witnessing the spectacle and ritual of sumo wrestling — and the scrappiness of this league and its potential — was exciting.
How I got this photo:
One of the biggest surprises when covering sumo wrestling for the first time was just how fast this combat sport is. Most bouts only last mere seconds as wrestlers using their own techniques do their best to push their opponents out of the dohyō, or ring, or send them to the floor. A production photographer who photographed practice rounds earlier in the day gave me the rundown: telling me about the different rituals that go into a fight and explaining where to be so I wouldn't be in the way of the production team or fighters. He told me to constantly watch the fights and warned that I should be ready to flee if a fighter comes tumbling toward you. I took off my boots and took my position on the boundary mat as close to the center of the ring as possible.
Sumo has a lot of rituals that helped me as a photographer get ready for the action. Fights don’t start until both fighters come into the ring, show respect with a bow, give some form of a respectful taunt to one another (each unique to the fighter), and put both fists onto the mat. The gyōji, or ref, then gives a yell to signal the fight to begin. Fortunately, the fighter featured in the photo above was later on during the event, so I had time to dial in my shooting settings and get a sense of what was to come. But sumo is full of surprises. It's the only combat sports without weight classes and some of the wrestlers, who could be around 400 pounds up, can still lose bouts against fighters half their weight.
The fight represented in the photos was Elgin fighter Ruperto Cintron's third and final fight of the night. He lost his other two matches, and his opponent Jabari Webb was on the attack immediately after the fight commenced, pushing Cintron towards the left edge of the ring. Cintron did what he could, which was attempt to throw Webb out of the ring using Webb’s momentum against him. However, despite Webb being thrown out of the ring, Cintron touched the mat outside the ring first and lost his third bout for the night eliminating him from that event's tournament. This fight lasted all of 6 seconds.
Technical details:
- Equipment: Nikon Z9 with 24-70mm F/2.8 Lens
- Focal length: 70mm
- Aperture: F/4
- Exposure: 1/800
- ISO: 6400
Plus, 13 more powerful photos from Sun-Times & WBEZ photographers:
Ver nota original ↗
¿Querés un resumen rápido de esta noticia, hecho por nuestra IA?
