This series was a happy by-product of a shoot for an e-bike company called Ather. I was an assistant on the shoot and carried my camera to Kolhapur with the intention of documenting my time in a new city. 

We were a two-women crew and happened upon an “Akhada”, a traditional Indian gym. The origins of Kusti, wrestling, is as old as time. Physical conflict has long been the go-to means for absolute resolution. At an Akhada however, kusti is a sacrilegious relationship between the body, the soil, and the divine. I had my guard up almost entirely because the space is reserved for men and women are not allowed on the premises. Armed with just my camera, I watched men from all walks of life, of all body types and ages take on serpant forms and dust their bodies with the fine sand of the wrestling pit. I found an appreciation for their discipline. It was tender and was not soaked in bravado or machismo. It was a genuine appreciation for the space and their devotion. I found that the more I opened myself and my camera to their curiosity, the more they opened up to me.

Kusti