/ 2026 / Portraiture / Culture

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Brian Sassmann, United States
• Date of Photograph
  November 2025
• Studio
  Brian Sassmann Photography
• Instagram
  @bsassmann

I recently traveled to Merida in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico for a brief holiday. Attempting to avoid the tourist circuit of this beautiful colonial city I visited the local night fair
located outside the city in the low-jungle. There I found a makeshift bullfighting ring. The Picadores, Banderillas, & Toreros warmly invited me to photograph them inside the ring. Dressed in ornate traditional clothing with stern faces & pensive energy, they all fell silent before the fight. A raw vulnerability reflected in their eyes. Some prayed quietly. A recognition of mortality before the fight.