Mascha Joustra

- title in english  ‘knee/leg/thigh’ -    

This series I made during a workshop in Arles, France. Lead by Francoise Huguier ( Agence VU', Paris) -  Les Rencontres de la Photographie - april 2017

I photographed a number of ‘raseteurs’. These are mostly young boys and take this sport and training very seriously. They arrive in fast cars and girl groupies are dwelling around. They ‘touch’ the bull with a small device in their hands in order to gather points. To avoid the bull hitting them they need to be fast and jump on the rounded fence very speedily. Therefor they need to be very alert. I was intrigued by their flexibility and how these young men are able to jump onto the fences rapidly in order to avoid the bull. It is a constant play between the bull and the raseteur.

The animals are treated not too bad but I have questioned the necessity of showing masculinity by competing with a bull. It is a hard to understand this tradition which I am planning to investigate further in future.

The title is referring to the most bodyparts injuries during the training and competitions. I focused as well on the shadows of the bull, they seem to play a double role in the series.

series were exhibited during Les Rencontres de la photographie, Arles, France