In the essay “The World of Wrestling” Roland Barthes (The French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist, critic, and semiotician) offered that professional wrestling is not a sport, but instead a spectacle. One could then posit, that for the spectacle to exist it must have performers and well as spectators. As Barthes suggests, a spectacle must then have a language that the spectator can understand. This language consists of previously agreed upon signs which are then relied upon by the spectator to understand the performance. The performance, or spectacle as Barthes would say, is made of gestures which indicate an “absolute clarity, since [the spectator] must always understand everything on the spot.”

In professional wrestling, the performance is predetermined. It is the suspension of disbelief which allows the spectator to enjoy the pain and suffering of the wrestlers. The performance allows the spectator to judge the quality of the “theater” in what is always seen as good versus evil. (I would suggest that professional wrestling is the last purely good versus evil experience that exists in a popular culture.) Functioning within the suspension of disbelief are the behaviors of the performers and the audience. The behaviors, the gestures, the plot, and eventual denouement are exaggerated beyond what should be believable. Yet, the audience is as animated as the performers and the performers exaggerate beyond even the most extravagant gladiator death match.

As a photographer therein lies the opportunity to capture the excess of the performer and the spectator. The entire relationship between the performer and spectator is based on lies, but the effort and physicality of the performers and the passion of the audience is of the utmost sincerity. It is that relationship I wish to capture in my photography.