Sumo

• Prize
  Bronze in Book/People
• Photographer
  Lord K2
• Website
  http://www.lordk2.com

Sumo as a sport in its current format, is one of the oldest in the world - stretching back over 2,000 years. Within the Japanese establishment, there exists a great sense of pride that so little about the sport has changed in the past Millennium. Wrestlers still live by a strict code, in and outside of the dojo, and to commit to the sport requires complete devotion from an early age. I witnessed the strict codes to which wrestlers adhere - the stringent dietary and training regimes and the many unique practices which make Sumo fascinating - a living, breathing showcase of ancient Japan.

• Biography
  Lord K2 is a visual artist from London based in Barcelona. In 2011 he seized trading stocks and ventured into the art world. After an initial stint exploring stencil graffiti in South America, Lord K2 shifted his focus to photography in order to pursue ethnographic visual story telling. His first project was to document the graffiti subculture in Santiago de Chile followed by the street art scene in Tokyo. Both projects were released in book form by Schiffer Publishing. He subsequently spent 5 years living in Asia in order to chronicle the Muay Thai and Sumo cultures.