Fighting For A Good Cause

Ace photographer Kamil Zihnioglu’s blow-by-blow account on a charity wrestling gala in Paris

The Catch program promotes physical activity and good health for children in schools all over the world. To mark the anniversary of a French charity group called the Association for Employment, Information and Solidarity with the Unemployed and At-Risk Workers, a Catch wrestling gala took place in the communist-run Paris suburb of Ivrysur-Seine. The wrestlers are part of the Catch program and the put on quite a show for the local residents, many of them children. Paris-based photographer Kamil Zihnioglu happened to be there to report on this charity event, providing a glimpse behind the scenes as well as a front row view from the side of the ring. Let’s find out more about this curious event and get his take on shooting with the Leica Q.

How did you first get into photography?

I was introduced to photography in my early childhood, my mother being a picture editor and my father a photographer. The decisive moment came during a family trip to Peru when I was 14. I was very much inspired by the amazing light shining on the local flora and the famous Inca citadel Machu Picchu. So I started to capture that light in black and white with my mother’s old analog camera and I haven’t stopped shooting since.

Who or what inspired you to enter the field of photojournalism?

With both my parents working in the field of photography, I had the opportunity to meet many photojournalists as child, but did not quite understand what photojournalism is really about. Then I met Alexandra Boulat, who is famous for her images from the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Pakistan. She introduced me to her father Pierre Boulat’s work. He was the first French LIFE photographer. They inspired me the most and still do. Their work really is a must see!

You completed an internship at the Bild Zeitung in Berlin. What did you learn from your time there?