Choke Holds and Hair Spray

I think I've found my new favorite thing to photograph. I thought shooting drag shows, porn conventions, muscle competitions and beauty pageants was fun, but that was before I discovered Women of Wrestling at the Eastside Cannery last month. Las Vegas Sun reporter and journalistic kindred spirit Andrea Domanick agreed. I think we stayed for almost four hours, hanging out backstage with the ladies as they prepared their hair, makeup, costumes and various persona for the ring. I took portraits and Andrea interviewed them, in character and out. These ladies are not only beautiful, they are amazing athletes with unbelievable commitment, drive and raw talent.

Here's the Las Vegas Weekly story and more photos of beautiful lady wrestlers.

Wrestling for the Love

After seeing an article about Future Stars of Wrestling by April Corbin in Las Vegas Weekly a couple weeks ago, accompanied by awesome photos by Bill Hughes, I knew I had to go to their next event. FSW is a couple steps above a backyard wrestling club, and have their own 2 a.m. Sunday morning show on the local CW station. I went to last week's Friday Night Fight, and was not disappointed. These hardworking young wrestlers are definitely not doing it for the money. They do it for the handful of hardcore fans that lined up outside the arena an hour and a half before the doors opened with handmade signs. They do it for the pure joy of performing ridiculous scenes in often hilarious costumes. They do it to hear people laugh and scream, to hear children curse and shout. They do it for the love of the sport.