2012 Photo Contest, Sports, 1st prize

Strelka

Photographer

Alexander Taran

20 August, 2011

In the amateur street fighting tournament known as strelka in Russia, fighters compete on sand without a time limit. Only a knockout or surrender stops the fight.

About the photographer

Alexander Taran

Alexander Taran was born in 1983. In 1999, he entered the photo studio Siluet at the Youth Creative Palace where had studied for four years under the direction of educator and ph...

Background story

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Michael Turkanov (23), an electrician, after a strelka fight that lasted 20 minutes. At the time of the breakup of the Soviet Union, strelka meant a meeting of gangsters—the sort that often ended in a scuffle. Today, strelka refers to an amateur street-fighting tournament and is becoming popular with people from all walks of life. Contestants fight on sand, without a time limit. Only a knockout or surrender stops the fight.

Technical information

Shutter Speed
1/800 sec
Focal length
50 mm
F-Stop
f/1.8
ISO
800
Camera
Nikon D300

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