Interview: Marc Smith, Lucha Libre Photographer

Marc Smith is a Disney animator by day and Lucha Libre photographer by night. After graduating from CalArts, Smith began his animation career as an inbetweener on The Lion King and Pocahantas. Inbetweeners are responsible for drawing the tens of thousands of action images– yes, you guessed it– in between the key frames. Not a bad way to foster an understanding of the human figure’s multifarious angles and expressions.

By Smith’s own account, he was content expressing himself through drawings and sketches until “one fateful day, after enjoying a particularly garlicky plate of hummus as his girlfriend dug though her purse for a piece of gum, she handed him her camera to hold. Just then, a 400-pound man carrying a 2-pound dog rounded the corner. With no sketchbook in hand, he used the camera, and a passion was born.”

The seed of that newfound passion has borne some spectacular fruit. Smith’s images explode across the screen. They are as immediate and arresting as they are thoughtful and measured– a precise balance that can be traced back to the photographer’s keen sense of timing and fundamental understanding of the body. Smith was kind enough to send us over photos and share some thoughts on photography, the appeal of Luchadores, and the very real pain of searching for missing teeth.

How did you go from working as an animator for Disney to taking photos of Lucha Libre wrestlers, and how has your experience in animation informed your photographic technique?
I started using a camera to do studies for the cinematography on the movies I was working on. I found it to be a very powerful tool to record observations while I was out and about, but more than that and this came as quite a surprise to me, I found that photography was the perfect complement to an artist sketchbook. Because when you have an idea for a drawing you begin with absolutely no information on your paper, nothing, and your job is to put information down until your idea is realized.

Whereas with photography you begin with everything. A whole universe full of information and your job as an artist is to extract the information that doesn’t support your idea. For me the end goal of both is exactly the same. I’m just trying to push myself to see the subject in a new or a deeper way.

Do you wrestle, yourself?
No, I don’t wrestle. I would be pulverized in the ring. I’ve been shoved and kicked more than once (and it hurt)! I can tell you these guys are tough and they take the sport seriously.

What attracts you to the subject?
Passion! The passion of the performers but especially the passion of the crowds. In some parts of the world where there are not many examples of life being fair, the Luchadores are their superheroes– a means by which the people can watch the powers of good conquer the powers of evil.

Are there any sports photographers who’ve inspired you?
I wish that I was more familiar with the art of sport photography than I am but the truth is that I was focused only on shooting images that I felt would represent the series the best.

What is the social aspect of taking these photos like? Was it challenging to get these wrestlers comfortable with the camera to capture such intimate portraits?
The wrestlers are both athletes and performers so photographing them in the ring is no problem because that is what they are there for. In time I learned to read the signs if someone was about to be thrown out of the ring into the audience or about to do a dangerous stunt. That’s not to say that what these men and women are doing isn’t real. I’ve seen serious injuries and spent time after the crowds have left searching for teeth that were knocked out during the matches.

That said, the shots of the performers taken backstage were more difficult. There is a long and illustrious history to the protection of the identity of a Luchador (the masks are a testament to this). An “unmasking” is considered to be a huge insult that could have repercussions lasting a lifetime. There are even examples of identities that have been passed down through the generations of a family. So the backstage work required a little finesse and a lot of respect. If I would have marched into the dressing room with my camera ready on the first night I would have learned more about wrestling than I wanted to know.