Andrew Daley
Photography - CPW | Coventry Pro Wrestling | December
Post written in retrospect
If you follow what I put on here, or upload on Twitter, then you would notice that something I've taken up recently is the photography of local 'Professional Wrestling' in Coventry. On both the 21st and 27th December I was out shooting with Coventry Pro Wrestling in the East side of Coventry, working with the local entertainment talent and helping the guys out by documenting the show.
Over the shows I've shot for them, I've gradually got to talk more with the wrestlers and become slightly more involved, and my photos are now being used on posters and as promotional materials for CPW. My driving instructor (who wrestles under 'DKH', you may see him in a photo or two as the Rainmaker) got me into taking the photos, and its that very aspect which intrigues me the most. These men and women who have seemingly innocent professions and lives that then dress up and entertainingly perform on weekends and evenings. My photos are used to document the shows and for promo/adverterial use by the company, however I prefer to document the emotions and raw passion or feelings on display during the matches. I love being up close and in the action, capturing a snapshot of an expression or the pure wear and tiredness on a face.
The photos below are from the two wrestling dates I mentioned above; one is the 'Xmas Bash' which is the 'NextGen' show composed of new and amatuer training wrestlers. The other is the 'Legacy' show and composed of more professional wrestlers, some in higher leagues and some travelling from around the country to compete (compared to NextGen which is primarily locals). The difference between the shows being talent, time and experience. I'm not knocking either as they were both fantastic and I love shooting them, you always get something different from a variety of opportunities, I'm just using this as an opportunity to expain.
Over the two shows I ended up shooting around 2357 photos, eventually cutting down to somewhere between 100-150 for both shows combined, though due to poor indoor lighting (and a terrible F4 aperture, okay not terrible but still less notchs than the belt needs... though I prefer the reach from the 24-105 than a stalwart prime) I'd claim there to be about 15-20 best photos from both shows combined. Feel free to have a flick through below at the ones I've chosen to be best from both shows. Anymore can be found on Flickr, just click the link in the bottom left of the webpage.
