Boxing is a sport more often associated with brute violence than with aesthetics. But photographer Howard Schatz has turned thuggish fighters into the subjects of extraordinary portraits showing the beautiful side of pugilism. The stunning pictures, collected in a new book, took six years to capture as Mr Schatz sought to investigate every aspect of the controversial sport.
Julian Rodriguez, of Everson, Wash., holds his two-gram packet of recreational marijuana outside Top Shelf Cannabis, Tuesday, July 8, 2014, in Bellingham, Wash., on the first day of legal sales in the state. (Photo by Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)
DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND - FEBRUARY 27: Dan Sims of Auckland clears a jump during the National Downhill Mountainbike Championships on Signal Hill, February 27, 2011 in Dunedin, New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
A sculpture entitled “Powerless Structures, Fig.101” designed by Danish artist Michael Elmgreen and Norwegian artist Ingar Dragset is unveiled on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square on February 23, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
A Hindu devotee takes a holy bath on the banks of the Bagmati River on the occasion of Rishi Panchami at the end of the three-day long Teej Festival, in which Hindu women fast during the day and pray for the long lives for their husbands, in Kathmandu on September 1, 2022. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)
People out in Aberystwyth on “Booze Black Friday” or “Mad Friday” in Aberystwyth, Wales, UK on December 16, 2016. The “Booze Black Friday” is the last working Friday before Christmas when workers celebrate with their colleagues. Alcohol sales in pubs, clubs and off-licences rise dramatically on this day. (Photo by Keith Morris/Alamy Live News)