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For me one of the most interesting dimensions of fighter photography is found in all the in-between moments. So much is focus on The Clash. These for me, even when executed beautifully, are boring. I've read some photographers feel that when they are photographing a fight they really want to capture that decisive moment, the clash that tips the scales. These are Sweat Spray moments, often. The gunned shutter that blurs through an action peak, and then is edited out. Hey, these can be cool, very cool, but...when taken as a whole, as a genre, they are numbing, at least to me. I'm really interested in the human feeling within fighting, those fallen moments, those re-gathering moments, when duress strips away the pretense, and the fighter calculates up. These compass headings are spiritual. The above really is on reflection on this "Ripley" photo I took last week of Sylvie between rounds going up against the impossible hill of Yodkhunpon: Which called to mind my photo of Sawsing Sor Sopit between rounds in a fight (you can find that photo here: https://www.muaynoir.com/Prints/i-2Nn5Svg/A ): Why are these photos so satisfying? At least to me. They reach into what really matters in fighting, and therefore of fighter photography. I see so much difference in the humanity of these two legendary fighting women, the ways in which they summon themselves, a great reserve truly more beautiful than a perfectly landed cross or head kick. This is what is spectacular in fighting.

My buddy shot some footage of us training last year, and i editted it. I gave it a sort of dark vibe so i thought it might fit here . I havent done much video work since school but ive started up again the past couple months.

I've been reflecting on the untouchable aura of Samart, on what made him like no other fighter, & I return to something Yodkhunpon said. He was talking about the fighters b4 the Golden Age. The Silver Age, or what might be called Cowboy Time. We showed him a fight between Thongbai & Adul. Thongbai was ripping low kicks endlessly. He said: In that Time u could fight like that. In my time the fighters would move [and he gestured that they would move like the wind, they would just be gone]. He then showed how the men of the past were HARD The Time before the Golden Age was Cowboy Time. The men had a made-in-stone toughness, I suspect. In the way that you might talk about your grandfather who had brick hands. This is just my working theory, but I think what made Samart like no other wasn't only his muay, but it was his time in history. He actually fought his last stadium fight before the 1990s, when the Golden Age wld b peaking. But, what he did was he bridged Cowboy Time with the Age of Femeu. He was the first to move like that, to dance, coming out of the Time of Hard Men. Perhaps just as Babe Ruth was the greatest Home run hitter of All Time because he was the first to really hit them monstrously, inventing the home run, maybe Samart holds an incredibly special place because he was the 1st to really float & move like that among the time of hard men, bridging Cowboy Time. And, he did this in parallel to the Hardest Man, Dieselnoi. The great Age of Femeu followed him, maybe flowed from him. Perhaps how the Age of the Dunk flowed from Dr. J in basketball. He was a transcendent fighter This is still just guessing, from afar, but it's something I've gleaned from looking back on eras and talking to greats. Yes, u can appreciate and swoon over his muay in retrospect, comparing techniques, but unless you include the time & men he fought in you can't quite grasp What it was like to see him move and hit like that. The hardness of the men he came into, that is what gives context to the freedom of the movements, their creativity and contrasted liberation. After him there were so many femeu and fluid fighters, the early to mid 90s were filled w/ them. But Samart was the 1 who danced among the men of stone. There is a place special and reserved for those who create a style so different from those around them. It's not just honorary, these fighters possess a quality in their muay that is unparalleled & unique. Began as a Twitter thread here.

Hey! I recognize your handle from Youtube. Andy Thomson was the first to really emphasize the importance of ambidextrous training to me. Not to fight as a switching fighter, but just to be balanced. I love that you're taking meaning in training both sides and truthfully speaking, everyone has a "weak side" and quite honestly it's much weaker in most people than is necessary. Your workout sounds solid and will develop as you go, but just feel where you're struggling and push the line a little. Then a little, then a little. It's awesome.

Oh yeah, the high contrast and very little grey. I think in general b&w can be great for muay thai because it helps to minimize the footage down to shape and movement to help better display the fundamentals of the art. I like your camera movement during action as well, it doesnt over-literalize what is happening and captures the emotion and intensity even in a seemingly calm environment. Ill have to share another short experiment i did that has a similar dark mood that you seem to go for

I really like this photo treatment of photographer Walt Zink. One of the challenges of selective color is connecting the color aesthetically to the rest of the lighting of the photo. A lot of time for me it can be jarring, taking me out of the photo, but in photos like these there is a real community of color that not only creates focus, but also aura. You get the continuity of tone, the feeling of adornment, that Old School atmosphere of parchment maybe. Very cool.

a photo of statue of Phra Pirap, taken and stylized by Sylvie: