Ring — Combate de Boxeo, 1997

A scanned photograph placed on a vintage floral wallpaper with muted pastel flowers, the photo filling nearly the entire frame with only a thin natural border visible on all sides. The photograph depicts: Grungy analog flash photo, Canon Sure Shot point-and-shoot, circa 1997. Two friends — a young person with short dark hair and warm brown skin sitting back in a foldable ringside seat, drink in hand, looking at the camera with an eyebrow raised, wearing a button-down shirt and a blazer with sleeves pushed up, and a wiry Irish-looking guy with a shaved head and ruddy cheeks wearing a fitted leather jacket over a white crew-neck tee, shadowboxing at the camera with a grin, fists up playfully — at a smoky boxing venue, a converted ballroom or casino showroom with low ceilings and red velvet drapes along the walls. Behind them, the elevated boxing ring lit by four harsh overhead spotlights, white canvas and red ropes vivid. A corner man leaning through the ropes. Ringside crowd: cigar smoke visible in the light cones, men in suits, women in cocktail dresses, someone holding a betting slip. Slight red tint from venue ambient lighting mixing with flash. Moderate grain, sharp center, soft corners from cheap plastic lens. Motion blur on the shadowboxing fists. Natural skin texture with subtle pores and micro-imperfections, organic asymmetry in features. --ar 4:5