Everyone Has a Plan Until They Get Punched In The Mouth
Brazil / Switzerland
2022
Each month in the small town of Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA, two people fight a duel to resolve a dispute. This ‘street-beef’ takes place in a backyard known as ‘Satan’s Backyard’, with a few basic rules: there must be witnesses and the fight must be filmed with a mobile phone to ensure a ‘fair’ outcome.
This ring, an attempt at civility in the midst of incivility, is the starting point for a photographic investigation into the demonstration of virility, masculinity and violence as the root of a symbolic order. It is the culmination of another form of violence – economic and social – that affects the city. Between brutality and tenderness, reality and fantasy, this series exudes a disturbing and moving ambivalence.
Portfolio
About the artist
Born in Guarulhos, Brazil, in 1983, Diego Saldiva first studied social communication in São Paulo before moving to Switzerland to study at the Vevey School of Photography. He has received the Photoforum Prize in Biel (CH), was a finalist of the 15th and 22nd Nachwuchsförderpreis and was nominated for the Paul Huff Award.