The Art of Lucha Libre: A Conversation with Lourdes Portillo

Lourdes Portillo is a photographer and artist who has spent her career capturing the essence of lucha libre, Mexico's vibrant and intense sport. Her work combines elements of sports photography with fine art, resulting in stunning images that not only showcase the athleticism of the wrestlers but also reveal the complexities of their lives beyond the ring.

Portillo's interest in lucha libre began early in her career, when she was working as a photographer for various publications and was assigned to cover the sport. She was immediately drawn to the energy and excitement of the matches, as well as the charismatic personalities of the wrestlers. As she delved deeper into the world of lucha libre, Portillo became fascinated with the cultural significance of the masks worn by the wrestlers. "The mask is a symbol of their identity and their power," she explains. "It's a way for them to separate themselves from their everyday lives and become something more."

Portillo's own experiences with lucha libre began when she was hired to photograph the sport. She soon became friends with some of the most famous wrestlers, including El Santo and Blue Demon. Her photographs of these wrestlers not only captured their athleticism but also revealed their humanity, showcasing them as ordinary people with families and everyday lives.

One of Portillo's most fascinating projects is her series of images featuring wrestlers dressed in their masks, going about their day jobs. The photographs reveal the wrestler's "secret identity" outside of the ring, often highlighting the contrast between their public persona and private life. For example, one photograph shows Blue Demon, a well-known wrestler, working as a waiter at a restaurant. Another image features El Santo, dressed in his wrestling gear, cooking dinner for his family.

Portillo also spent time with the families of the wrestlers, capturing intimate moments of everyday life. One notable photograph from this series shows Lourdes Portillo's own encounter with Blue Demon, who is depicted as her "father figure." The image conveys a sense of warmth and affection between Portillo and Blue Demon, highlighting their deep respect for each other.

Portillo's work has been praised for its unique blend of sports photography and fine art. Her use of formal portraits and everyday moments creates a sense of intimacy and familiarity with the wrestlers. "I want to take people out of the ring and show them as human beings," she explains. "I'm not just capturing their athleticism, but also their personalities and relationships."

When asked about her own experiences working with lucha libre, Portillo reflects on the challenges of navigating a new world. "It was an incredible experience, but also intimidating at times," she admits. "I had to learn so much about the culture and history of lucha libre, as well as the wrestlers themselves." Despite these challenges, Portillo found the sport to be both exhilarating and rewarding.

One memorable moment from her time working with Portillo came when she was invited to film a video featuring some of Mexico's most famous wrestlers. Unfortunately, just as they were about to begin filming, Portillo received an unexpected phone call – she had forgotten about a family commitment and would have to postpone the project. "I completely forgot I had a family commitment that I've got to do this evening," she recalls with amusement. Despite this setback, Portillo remained committed to her work and eventually managed to reschedule the shoot.

Portillo's collaboration with Lourdes, which resulted in the video excerpt presented here, offers a glimpse into the creative process behind her photographs. "I took a lot of photographs about the public and then I decided that because the ones that fight all every week they are allowed to have a good earn good money but the ones that not they have to have another jobs to solve that problem so I started going to see what they used to do," she explains in the excerpt. "I mean I found people working in restaurants bodyguards teachers i was going in and in and deeply and deeply...then I decided to start visiting them in their houses to see how they live...they are normal people they have their families."

Portillo's work has not received the recognition it deserves during her career, but she is determined to change this. Her photographs of lucha libre wrestlers have captured the essence of this vibrant sport and revealed the complexities of the human experience. As we continue to explore the world of lucha libre through Portillo's lens, we are reminded of the power of art to capture the beauty and complexity of human life.

Despite her success in capturing the essence of lucha libre, Portillo is also an artist who has explored various mediums beyond photography. Her work combines elements of sports photography with fine art, resulting in a unique and captivating style that continues to inspire and delight audiences. As we look back on her remarkable body of work, it becomes clear that Portillo's photographs are not just images – they are gateways into the world of lucha libre itself.

The video excerpt presented here offers a glimpse into Portillo's creative process and showcases some of her most striking photographs from her series featuring lucha libre wrestlers. The project captures the essence of the sport, revealing the complex relationships between the wrestlers, their families, and their communities. Through this work, Portillo reminds us that even in the midst of athletic competition, there lies a deeper humanity – one that can be captured through art and shared with the world.

In her own words, "I want to take people out of the ring and show them as human beings...I'm not just capturing their athleticism, but also their personalities and relationships." Through her photographs, Portillo continues to inspire and captivate audiences, offering a unique perspective on the world of lucha libre that is both exhilarating and intimate.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome back everyone in this video i want to do a little tribute to a photographer that i got to know a few years ago many of you might remember her from the artist series her name is lourdes grobay lourdes was a brilliant photographer i believe one of the best photographers that mexico had to offer and unfortunately she passed away yesterday at the age of 81. yesterday at the time i'm filming this on july 15 2022 and i want to talk a little bit about her i believe that she deserved way more recognition than what she actually had during her career i mean she was recognized by museums and did a lot of serious work but she was largely unknown by a lot of people and i want to back up a little bit to the opportunity that i had in 2016 to interview her and tell you a little bit about the behind the scenes on that now if you're not familiar with her work she's probably best known for a number of series that she did on lucha libra wrestling and at the time i remember seeing those images and i knew very little about lucha libra wrestling until i started researching for this interview i knew about the mass and the cultural significance and the fact that it over the years become a big deal in mexico but when i was actually putting that together and getting to know lourdes for that interview i learned a lot about it and it made this really special for me so lord has started out as a conceptual photographer in the 1960s when she was in art school it was very in vogue at the time and after school she started combining a lot of the conceptualism that she had learned in school with her passion for wrestling which is something that she enjoyed since she was a kid now one thing i did not know about lourdes is for a number of years she had been working in collaboration with an indigenous theater ensemble and so these were performances that happened out in the country and they were a hearken back to the pre-hispanic era of mexico so we're talking no theater lighting they're performed outdoors it was the original stories the original costumes and what's really interesting is this connection that she made and she made it in the video and i'll link that below if you haven't seen it you should go check it out but the whole connection between the idea of theater and how that incorporated into lucha libra work and the whole idea of the mask and the warrior and the cultural significance and the way it interacts with the audience and it really opened my eyes to this whole cultural aspect that i was very much unfamiliar with so she had a very interesting line that she walked between the art world and what essentially would be sports photography with lucha libra wrestling she was also of a time before it was overly commercialized in mexico where she got to know some of the most famous wrestlers in that entire medium we're talking about people like el santos she was very good friends with as well as blue damon but the body of work that i was most interested in that i really wanted to ask her about when i got there was this series of images that she did with wrestlers dressed up in the mask but working their day jobs and there's another series that she did with their families and i want to play you a little excerpt of that because i think it's just brilliant and you're going to see kind of how her mind worked with all this and how it came to be so this is an excerpt from that artist series video it's a relationship a straight relationship between the action and the public so i took a lot of photographs about the public and then i decided that because the ones that fight all every week they are allowed to have a good earn good money but the ones that not they have to have another jobs to solve that problem so i started going to see what they used to do i mean i found people working in restaurants bodyguards teachers i was going in and in and deeply and deeply and then i decided to start visiting them in their houses to see how they live they are normal people they have their families i love the diabolica because she's a diabolica with that name she's rude and but the most lovely mother with her her children i mean she she was the way that she was uh treating and deal with her children i mean it was just amazing was full of love a a lady that it's a ruler and they say all these dichotomies i mean i love them so i i like i understood about this country taking photographs about wrestling lourdes score bay was an amazing photographer one of my favorites and i'm very privileged to have gotten not only to meet her but do that video to kind of preserve and share with you guys she i think is just worthy of so much more recognition than she ever got during her career and i think she's just brilliant the whole infusion of kind of a sense of humor uh with these kind of formal portraits and i it's just it's amazing work i know it's hard to categorize um anyway i just think she's brilliant and i want to share kind of a quirky behind-the-scenes story with you guys so when i went to mexico to film those three interviews she was a little bit difficult to schedule she was working on this big project on the bering strait it was a video project so she was flying between mexico city and alaska and we were able to find a time fortunately that worked out and so when i went over there you know you're doing this interview went over to her apartment we filmed the whole thing in front of that great painting of blue damon behind her and i was thinking earlier about like you know you're trying to put together an interview but i need b-roll to go with it and so i'm trying to think what would work really well for this and so it kind of occurred to me what if i offered to take her down to the arena and we could go watch the wrestling matches we'll take cameras and i could get some b-roll of her plus i think it would be a lot of fun so i asked her and she said absolutely she said i'm dying to share that with you let's go to the wrestling matches it'll be a blast and i said okay and then what happened is we filmed that that video i guess late morning early afternoon after we left i got a call from and she said oh my gosh she said i completely forgot i have a family commitment that i've got to do this evening so i'm gonna have to rain check on wrestling matches with you and i said well i said no problem at all i completely understand i said just promise me next time i come to mexico we'll go see the matches together and unfortunately i have not been to mexico since so lourdes if somehow you're watching this just know that in the next world hopefully i can join you and finally we will go see hel santo and blue damon in the arena together anyway she was an incredible woman a brilliant photographer and i wanted to share that with you guys in this video so go check out her interview if you haven't already i will link it up here and i will catch you guys in the next video so until then laterwelcome back everyone in this video i want to do a little tribute to a photographer that i got to know a few years ago many of you might remember her from the artist series her name is lourdes grobay lourdes was a brilliant photographer i believe one of the best photographers that mexico had to offer and unfortunately she passed away yesterday at the age of 81. yesterday at the time i'm filming this on july 15 2022 and i want to talk a little bit about her i believe that she deserved way more recognition than what she actually had during her career i mean she was recognized by museums and did a lot of serious work but she was largely unknown by a lot of people and i want to back up a little bit to the opportunity that i had in 2016 to interview her and tell you a little bit about the behind the scenes on that now if you're not familiar with her work she's probably best known for a number of series that she did on lucha libra wrestling and at the time i remember seeing those images and i knew very little about lucha libra wrestling until i started researching for this interview i knew about the mass and the cultural significance and the fact that it over the years become a big deal in mexico but when i was actually putting that together and getting to know lourdes for that interview i learned a lot about it and it made this really special for me so lord has started out as a conceptual photographer in the 1960s when she was in art school it was very in vogue at the time and after school she started combining a lot of the conceptualism that she had learned in school with her passion for wrestling which is something that she enjoyed since she was a kid now one thing i did not know about lourdes is for a number of years she had been working in collaboration with an indigenous theater ensemble and so these were performances that happened out in the country and they were a hearken back to the pre-hispanic era of mexico so we're talking no theater lighting they're performed outdoors it was the original stories the original costumes and what's really interesting is this connection that she made and she made it in the video and i'll link that below if you haven't seen it you should go check it out but the whole connection between the idea of theater and how that incorporated into lucha libra work and the whole idea of the mask and the warrior and the cultural significance and the way it interacts with the audience and it really opened my eyes to this whole cultural aspect that i was very much unfamiliar with so she had a very interesting line that she walked between the art world and what essentially would be sports photography with lucha libra wrestling she was also of a time before it was overly commercialized in mexico where she got to know some of the most famous wrestlers in that entire medium we're talking about people like el santos she was very good friends with as well as blue damon but the body of work that i was most interested in that i really wanted to ask her about when i got there was this series of images that she did with wrestlers dressed up in the mask but working their day jobs and there's another series that she did with their families and i want to play you a little excerpt of that because i think it's just brilliant and you're going to see kind of how her mind worked with all this and how it came to be so this is an excerpt from that artist series video it's a relationship a straight relationship between the action and the public so i took a lot of photographs about the public and then i decided that because the ones that fight all every week they are allowed to have a good earn good money but the ones that not they have to have another jobs to solve that problem so i started going to see what they used to do i mean i found people working in restaurants bodyguards teachers i was going in and in and deeply and deeply and then i decided to start visiting them in their houses to see how they live they are normal people they have their families i love the diabolica because she's a diabolica with that name she's rude and but the most lovely mother with her her children i mean she she was the way that she was uh treating and deal with her children i mean it was just amazing was full of love a a lady that it's a ruler and they say all these dichotomies i mean i love them so i i like i understood about this country taking photographs about wrestling lourdes score bay was an amazing photographer one of my favorites and i'm very privileged to have gotten not only to meet her but do that video to kind of preserve and share with you guys she i think is just worthy of so much more recognition than she ever got during her career and i think she's just brilliant the whole infusion of kind of a sense of humor uh with these kind of formal portraits and i it's just it's amazing work i know it's hard to categorize um anyway i just think she's brilliant and i want to share kind of a quirky behind-the-scenes story with you guys so when i went to mexico to film those three interviews she was a little bit difficult to schedule she was working on this big project on the bering strait it was a video project so she was flying between mexico city and alaska and we were able to find a time fortunately that worked out and so when i went over there you know you're doing this interview went over to her apartment we filmed the whole thing in front of that great painting of blue damon behind her and i was thinking earlier about like you know you're trying to put together an interview but i need b-roll to go with it and so i'm trying to think what would work really well for this and so it kind of occurred to me what if i offered to take her down to the arena and we could go watch the wrestling matches we'll take cameras and i could get some b-roll of her plus i think it would be a lot of fun so i asked her and she said absolutely she said i'm dying to share that with you let's go to the wrestling matches it'll be a blast and i said okay and then what happened is we filmed that that video i guess late morning early afternoon after we left i got a call from and she said oh my gosh she said i completely forgot i have a family commitment that i've got to do this evening so i'm gonna have to rain check on wrestling matches with you and i said well i said no problem at all i completely understand i said just promise me next time i come to mexico we'll go see the matches together and unfortunately i have not been to mexico since so lourdes if somehow you're watching this just know that in the next world hopefully i can join you and finally we will go see hel santo and blue damon in the arena together anyway she was an incredible woman a brilliant photographer and i wanted to share that with you guys in this video so go check out her interview if you haven't already i will link it up here and i will catch you guys in the next video so until then later\n"