I’ve been a huge fan of combat sports since I can remember, especially because of the mental aspect of the game. This is a project that has been in the back of my head for a while. Having done more fashion films than anything else, this was a good opportunity to explore a bit more about the storytelling side that naturally comes with the portrait genre. Shot it in less than 4 hours and edited in 2 days, this is definitely not going to be the last film portrait I do. It’s a terrific exercise to explore, try and polish different storytelling techniques. One of the best ways to improve your craft is breaking down and emulating the work of the masters that you follow, so, in this case I tried to mimic the style of one of my favourites directors of photography - Phillip Bloom. From the visuals to the sound, I'm getting a deeper understanding around where my strengths and weaknesses are. I can also get a sense of my own gear limitations and how far I can push them.
Having said that, I hope you enjoy this portrait of Matt Peters, shot it inside the Manly Fight Gym
Mauricio
