There’s just no way to introduce this blog.
We went to a bull fight. And not just ANY bull fight: a Haitian bull fight.
Okay, the ASPCA and PETA people are really gonna eat this up… I might tag them on twitter just for fun… 😉
But seriously, its not like the old-school matadors and all that pomp and circumstance. This is two guys in a field pitting their 1200lbs bulls against each other in an open field with (literally) hundreds of spectators.
And its pretty much the major past-time of this area of Haiti. These guys come from miles and miles around southern Haiti to attend every Sunday.
Its surprisingly organized and not at all underground, the betting is done in categories depending on the amount of money bet and how much payout. All of that stuff is done in Creole, so I had no idea what was going on at the time.
The owners and “trainers” – how ever much you can train a bull, I don’t know – prep them and lead them out into the open and they go to butting heads until one of them literally turns tail and takes off for the hills.
We’re not talking about just giving up and not fighting anymore. We’re talking full-out sprint as fast as that bull can for hundreds and hundreds of yards.
The first fight lasted maybe a few minutes. The second fight went on and on for more than 15min: I assure you that’s a long fight! I was exhausted, stepped on, cut up by a cactus, and if the shutter could be overheated on my camera it would have been.
But there’s definitely a definite winner. No doubt. Its not a subtle thing.
I’m not advocating animal “usage” in these ways, but this is truly an extraordinary cultural experience, more adrenaline that I’ve had photographing an event for a long long time. Those bulls are CLOSE! The lead picture up top says 1 meter on the focal distance with the Nikkor 24/2.8. It was interesting how all the Haitians would grab me and pull me back when I was getting too close or the bulls were coming my way.
Anyways… some days that you start at church with the fisherman’s families end at a bull fight.
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I’m back on mainland Haiti now. We’re heading back to Port-au-Prince soon.
Stay tuned,
-Noah D.
