Photo: Tomasz Gudzowaty

Polish documentary filmmaker and photographer, Tomasz Gudzowaty has gained international recognition through numerous publications and awards.

His photographic projects have led him to travel to more than 100 countries on all continents pursuing diverse subjects with a predilection for wildlife, sport, and social issues. Shaolin monks, wrestlers, skaters, boxers, pole dancers: in recent years the portrait has become essential in his photography.

Discovery of an intense work through 2 series exploring the dark districts of Mexico: LUCHA LIBRE and INVADING URBAN SPACE.

LUCHA LIBRE

The lucha libre is a national sport in Mexico, an institution. There are at least dozen of large arenas in Mexico City, the largest is the Arena México (16 000 seats), considered the Mecca of lucha libre. There is also number of smaller venues entertaining local communities in poor districts of the city.

One of them is La Loba, located in Chimalhuacán - an area rarely visited by outsiders and affected by the usual problems of the semi-slum areas of megacities: crime, violence, drugs and poverty. At La Loba, most of the audience are friends, family and neighbors, making each show a kind of village festival.

INVADING URBAN SPACE

The urban environment is a huge playground for skateboarders but since the 1970's skateparks have been constructed specifically for their use in order to bring the activity under more control. Indeed, skaters had a lot of negative press, were portrayed as dirty, noisy, aggressive and trouble-making. The dark side of skateboarding is particularly evident in countries like Mexico where violence and organized drug-related crime are ubiquitous, especially in poor and congested urban areas.

The images were taken in the districts of the Distrito Federal, such as Neza and Tepito.