In BOSFIGHTS / LIVE FREE, documentary photographer Sebastian Steveniers becomes entangled in the dark forest of the clandestine free fights. Rival hooligans come to blows here. They fight for the colours of their club.
For two years, Steveniers managed to gain access to this closed community. He recorded their raw, bloody battles, but was also arrested for doing so in 2018. Authorities confiscated all hard drives and locked Steveniers in prison. The project seemed lost.
Six years later, Steveniers was acquitted of most charges, and all hard drives were returned to him. The images ask questions that are difficult to find answers to. Why do these men fight each other, deep in the woods, and then drink a beer at the gas station as if nothing happened? What do these men have to gain, and more importantly, what do they have to lose?
This project is about fighting, but also about primal human instinct, about power, loyalty, brotherhood, and the universal desire for freedom. BOSFIGHTS / LIVE FREE is a visual testament to a hidden world that both fascinates and shocks.
In BOSFIGHTS / LIVE FREE, documentary photographer Sebastian Steveniers becomes entangled in the dark forest of the clandestine free fights. Rival hooligans come to blows here. They fight for the colours of their club.
For two years, Steveniers managed to gain access to this closed community. He recorded their raw, bloody battles, but was also arrested for doing so in 2018. Authorities confiscated all hard drives and locked Steveniers in prison. The project seemed lost.
Six years later, Steveniers was acquitted of most charges, and all hard drives were returned to him. The images ask questions that are difficult to find answers to. Why do these men fight each other, deep in the woods, and then drink a beer at the gas station as if nothing happened? What do these men have to gain, and more importantly, what do they have to lose?
This project is about fighting, but also about primal human instinct, about power, loyalty, brotherhood, and the universal desire for freedom. BOSFIGHTS / LIVE FREE is a visual testament to a hidden world that both fascinates and shocks.
