For a long time, the world of boxing has been a strong photographic subject, tempting because it provides the chance to seize the violent presence of the body in space, as well as the grace that emanates from the ballet of combatants in the ring. The choice of using black and white for this subject is increasingly rare. This is so because digital cameras are the only usable tool. But black and white affirms the desire to place oneself in a certain tradition of photography, in this case, admiration of the photographer for Henri Cartier-Bresson and his insistence on composition and geometry. Impeccably framed, attentive to line and structure, and it is precisely space that is structured, going from training to combat, these snapshots demonstrate a classical mastery that complements, as a counterpoint, a series of images staged with an expressionist tonality. Formal research, going sometimes toward design and collage are in dialogue with the classical positioning of boxers which the classical iconography of this sport has put in place for ages. An example of what might be developed, on a well-known subject, in the framework of Alexander Burgeat’s workshop in Studio Image of the Institut français.
Born in 1967 in Cambodia. Lives and works in Cambodia. Graduated in architecture from the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, he also studied in Munich (Germany). He continued, over the years, his photographic work with passion and in 2011 he developed additional knowledge through Studio Image workshops which have been co-organized by the French Institute and the agency Melon Rouge.
