I visited my cousin who watches and follows Sumo wrestling throughout the year via FreeSat. Knowing that I was interested in photography she shyly showed me this book of photographs by David Sharabani, saying “I was given this book you might like to look at it, but don’t be offended, I find some of the images pornographic!”
What a beautifully put together photobook! I wanted to keep it!
Firstly my cousin’s attitude towards images that reveal flesh is very different from her attitude when seeing the same revealed flesh while watching sumo wrestlers in action. Perhaps a cultural difference. The book is meant for the American and Japanese market, evidenced by the two languages being used throughout.
The photographs in the book are graceful and beautifully composed to show something of Japanese culture and attitude. The image above shows an essential daily exercise that all the sumo wrestlers do when training.
However what captured my eye and engaged me was the way the photographs had been sequenced in the book. Images had been carefully selected to compliment each other, or suggest inferences about the lives of these men and boys in training.
The meal on the right is a standard breakfast. The boy on the left is certainly going to grow into a typical sumo body shape with that sort of meal!
Below, one of my favorite pair of images, if only for the symmetry in each of them.
So many well composed and captured images.
The pages are uncomplicated by titles or commentary which being in both languages would detract from the images. All of the image details are at the back of the book.
The reference below is an interview with David Sharabani and tells how the photographer gained access and his approach to illustrating the lives of the sumo wrestlers.
Holland, O. (2022) A rare glimpse into the secretive world of sumo wrestling, CNN. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/sumo-wrestling-lord-k2/index.html (Accessed: 12 December 2024).
