AROUND HERE 4

AROUND HERE Issue , 4 Maui Thai.

The Muay Thai fighters of Greater Manchester.

Taken from the fourth issue of "Around Here" an ongoing project by photographer Daniel Cheetham, the series documents a hidden community of Muay Thai fighters in Stockport’s All POWERS GYM. 

Their story is an unlikely one; the traditions of Thailand transported to the brutal cold of Northern England. These fighters are on a journey where they’ll understand a new discipline under burning fluorescent lights and the condensation drenched air of a Masonic Hall. Muay Thai is a performance, an art. It welcomes and intimidates. Where each fighter must learn to balance dedication with ambition, camaraderie, friendship, and blurring fists. In this, the unlikeliest of communities, they stand and learn and they fight and fall, together. 

Daniel’s ‘Around Here’ series explores the subcultures of his local area. As we’re increasingly confined to our neighbourhoods, Daniel spent 6 months following the fighters as they learned an alien discipline, through the sweat, rigour and bombast of training to the bare skin, prickled sweat and cascading adrenaline of fight night. Daniel’s photos place us into the unseen environments we live amongst, showing although we’re not side by side right now, communities will always have the power to bring us together. 

289mm x 380mm Digital Tabloid
Unstapled & Folded, On uncoated Newspaper stock.
60 Pages
44 Colour Photos.

Design By: Phil Heys
Foreword/Essay By: James Briggs

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