Kristine: Gleason's Gym, DUMBO.

Location: Gleason's Boxing Gym, Brooklyn

Photographer: Kristine Guzman

So, the purpose of this assignment was to photograph fashion in Dumbo. In my defense, there are many different definitions of the word. Style is represented in ways other than clothing or the material products we drape our appearances with. Fashion can be viewed as a trend within a culture, a behavior that is admired, and a lifestyle that is lived. With my project, I deferred away from the common theme associated with the word, and chose a different approach.

The concept of boxing is rather interesting when you really sit down and dissect it. The practice involves training and nurturing the body, only to risk the body. One may wonder what drives a person to fight for the sake of sport. Is it to satisfy the ego, is it to release anger? Well, I have tried kickboxing (to the best of my ability) and my ego does not need the satisfaction of causing physical damage to another human being, nor am I an angry person. I'm actually pretty calm. However, boxing does provide a sudden jolt of energy, a rush, and a release.. And it will leave every muscle your own sore.

Fashion in all cases is to be admired and is sometimes impractical. Boxers live a lifestyle where they are not judged by their appearance, clothes, equipment, not even by their size. Raw skill, endurance, speed and strength define the athlete and the combination of these characteristics create the image of a true champion. 

Below are some of the images from my shoot last Friday. My friend Jamuel Vaz was one of my models. I met the other man the day before the shoot when I scouted with Charles and he agreed to be my second subject. I also photographed some of the boxers who regularly practice there. This was my first time shooting mainly film for a real shoot in a long time. I also shot digital, and will post more images soon. I have images of my two subjects boxing which were shot digitally because the ring was bouncy and I didn't want to drop the Hasselblad, and because it was hard to quickly frame and focus with that camera when they were moving around so fast -- I had them fight for real in order to get more realistic looking images (Sorry to my friend who isn't a trained boxer).

So, here...