THE ART OF RESISTANCE.
Photographer Jun Lu travels to Brazil to inspire us all with the beauty and grace of the Brazilian capoeirista.
I’ve always been fascinated with the sport of capoeira, ever since I was a kid. Growing up I played a lot of video games and, ironically, I learned about capoeira through the fighting game Tekken where one of the characters (Eddy Gordo) used the martial art as his fighting style. Capoeira is absolutely mesmerising to watch. There is such a graceful art to the movements between any two capoeiristas. Even though they’re essentially fighting, they’re also cooperating with each other to create a beautiful syncretic dance. Each acrobatic movement is posed as a question that’s being asked by one capoeirista, followed by an answer that’s being given by his opponent and partner. I find that so beautiful.
The sport as a whole is about a dance between two people who are equally each other’s competitive opponents, as they are partners. It’s that tension and balance that holds the true strule and beauty of the sport; and speaks both beautifully and with heartbreak, to the rising modern opposition in the same country from which it was born.
I want viewers to not only feel inspired by the beauty and grace of the Brazilian capoeirista — from the physical aesthetic of their bodies under immense acrobatic pressure, to the spirit and passion they share for their sport — but also by what it is that the sport historically stood for: resistance.
Capoeira was born out of a need for Brazilian slaves to find a way to disguise their training as a dance in order to eventually rebel against their owners. Understanding how that compares against the impending oppression on the same country today, it’s my hope that these images can serve as a continued symbol of resistance as its people strule to fight for a future in which the beauty of its country and people can shine through the opposing challenges.