Florian Ziegler Florian Ziegler
2015-11-12 09:36

Cockfights on Bali

Among Bali’s many traditions cockfights are non-arguably brutal – and therefore illegal in most of the western world. What makes it even more vicious on Bali, compared to other countries, is the fact that here, they attach blades to the feet of the roosters. These small knifes are razor sharp and end fights much quicker – and bloodier – than a regular fight would.

As betting is a huge part of its appeal to many locals, cockfighting is highly regulated and – from what I understand – only officially allowed in combination with certain religious or other traditional festivities. (Although one restaurant owner, who saw me editing the photos for this blog post, told me, that there are fights every day of the week.)

Almost all of the Balinese people we spoke to, do not like cockfighting. I guess it is probably similar to bullfighting in Spain: traditions die hard, even the brutal ones.

It is a fascinating spectacle to experience and lends itself for the kind of documentary photography I love to do. So here it goes:

Scooters outside the cockfight arena.
Scooters parking outside the arena, where the cockfights take place.
Small bamboo cages for transporting the roosters to the arena
Rooster transport boxes: The birds arrive in these small cages, made of bamboo.
Blade set
Owners have whole sets of blades: Different ones are used depending on the size of the rooster and the positioning of the blade.
An owner attaches a blade to the foot of his rooster
An owner attaches a blade to the foot of his rooster.
A rooster waiting his turn
A rooster waiting his turn.
Crowed around the arena.
The crowed is gathering around the arena to watch the first fight of the day.
An attendee holding his rooster while watching a fight in the cockpit
An attendee is holding his rooster while watching a fight in the cockpit.
Spectators around the arena
Spectators around the arena.
Betting money on the outcome of the fights is a big draw
Betting money on the outcome of the fights is a big draw for many of those who attend.
Rooster with his owner
Rooster with his owner.
Roosters are presented in the arena before bets are made
Roosters are presented in the arena before bets are made.
Roosters are paired before bets are being made
Roosters are paired before bets are being made.
The fight is about to start
The fight is about to start.
Two roosters fighting in the arena
Two roosters fighting in the arena.
The bloodied victor standing tall on top of his opponent
The bloodied victor standing tall on top of his opponent.
Cockfights are battles of life and death
Cockfights are battles of life and death.
The owner of the winning rooster is entitled to the dead opponent. It is tradition to prepare and eat them
The owner of the winning rooster is entitled to the dead opponent. It is tradition to prepare and eat them.

All images were taken with the Fuji X-T1 and either the 35mm or the 23mm XF lens.

Beginning of a traditional Balinese cockfight. If you watch closely you can see the devastating effect the blades have, when the roosters first meet in the middle of the arena

Ein von Florian Ziegler (@damndirty) gepostetes Video am