Thursday, September 17

a sunday evening bull fight

bull fight- BW 3

bull fight- BW 1

bull fight- backside

bull fight- BW tail slap

bull fight- on your knees

bull fight- come and get it

(we saw some super cool postcards with bull fight pictures and i really wanted to make some pictures that looked like they did. i think i love how these pictures came out.)

so, bull fighting is a lot more complex than one might think. i had no idea what all went into a bull fight- but learned quickly, we saw 6 in less than two hours.
during the first fight i was "humane" and really empathetic towards the bull, feeling so bad for him. and not that i lost any of my empathy, i still felt bad for the huge beautiful bulls that were in the ring and the fact that they were going to be killed, but you start to appreciate the matadors and their "art" or "sport." how can you not appreciate a man who dresses up in tight ornate pants and jacket, wears pink socks, and stuffs his pants (i am not going to draw any attention to his "package protection" here, promise).
bull fight- matedor

so, if you want to know what happens in a bull fight, scroll on. if you don't, don't. i am not offended.

these pics are of three different matadors, all from different fights.

enter bull. his stats are on the board- breeder, birthdate and weight.
bull fight- enter bull

the bull that has just entered is pissed and energized. the matador and three banderilleros are in the ring. they have pink and yellow capes and get the bull to run around a bit to tire him out. also, the matador watches the bull to see what he is like.
bull fight- pink and yellow

if he gets too close they hide behind these wood entrance covers. if you can see, to the right of the boards they are hiding behind, there is a gash taken out of the wood from this bulls horns. they are pretty strong to say the least.
bull fight- hide!

after the bull has been run around for a few minutes the band plays a little ditty (they do this at all the transition points in the fight) and two men come in on heavily padded and blindfolded horses. the bull charges the horse and the man sticks a large lance into his shoulder muscles. this weakens the bulls muscles and makes the bull lose a lot of blood.
bull fight- hittin the horse2

next, the three banderilleros each stick two banderillas or sticks with barbs on the end into the bull. these guys are brave, they get so close to getting horns in their gut. if they do a good job the sticks stay put, which hurts the bull.

a hurt bull is a mad bull. i have some great sequence shots of some of the bulls doing pawing at the ground before they charge.
bull fight- bull

the matador comes out by himself now, with a red cape and does his thing. i like to call it the dance. at first he has a sword that is not so sharp, but as it comes closer to the time when he will use it, one of his assistants will bring him a sharp one. this particular matador cut his hand with his during his first fight, it was sort of funny.

then, the matador kills the bull with his sword. they have done a good job when the sword goes all the way into the bull and kills him.

if he has done a good job the crowd cheers. they all get out white hankies and wave them at the commissioner so that he will reward the matador with some part of the bull as a reward.
bull fight- white hankies

if he is lucky, the commissioner hangs his white hanky in agreement that he did a good job.
bull fight- comissioner

then they will cut something off the bull, in this case an ear, and give it to the matador.
bull fight- cutting of the ear

thanks for the ear! the matador then walks around the ring and gets things thrown at him like teddy bears and roses. some people throw hats and he throws them back. this guy got two ears that night. i wonder what they do with them all- do they have a drawer full of them at home that they show to the ladies? are they impressed?
bull fight- thanks for the ear

after the fight you leave bullring and cross street to go enjoy some horchata with the old men as they talk about the fight and wish you spoke spanish so you could understand what they are saying.
bull fight- bull ring


the end.
more about spanish bull fighting here.

13 comments:

Megan and Keli'i said...

Very cool. I've always wanted to go to a bull fight. And did you get to "run with the bulls" too? That would be crazy!

Leilani said...

Umm...gross. I had to scroll down past all the pictures of the bull with the things in his back and the blood. Yikes. Very cool though.

Jared Zane said...

Crazy! That would be neat to watch. I still feel real bad for the bull though.

McLove said...

Those photos are amazing!!! Great job!

liko said...

love the photos!

but i don't think i could watch one...

and thanks for mentioning his 'package protection' because right after reading it, of course i looked.

.Ang. said...

Great photos!

That is pretty neat! I'm loving the matador in the pink! those pants are pretty tiny.

SO does the bull always lose?

have you heard of the childrens book Ferdinand the Bull?

It's a good one!

mahina said...

thanks for the education! i never knew that! i think i'd feel sorry for the bull!

your pictures are amazing! so clear and sharp!

Kim's just sayin' said...

who knew so much went into a bull fight or the matadors package!!! :) love the pictures, everything there seems so alive and colorful. what an awesome experience.

Kristen said...

Yay! PICS!! I would be obsessed with doors, and arty stuff too. :) Looks like you guys had SO much fun!!

Melissa said...

whoa! love the pictures!

and why do they kill the bull? do they eat it?

Smiths said...

Was it common knowledge that they kill the bull(s) and cut off a piece of them? I guess my only bull fighting education came from the book "Ferdinand the bull". Sounds like you really were a world away cuz that could never happen in the US of A

Erika said...

Don't they have bull fights every Sunday? We were there on a Sunday but didn't go...and I don't think I would have enjoyed watching bulls dye, although I do give the matador credit for being so brave. I wonder how many madador's get seriously injured each year. You got some great shots. I felt like I was ALMOST there with you guys.

Missy said...

Wait a second. Was this one of the famous matador brothers that are HUGE in Spain. We watched a 60 minutes special on them.

(I just googled their names again - Francisco Rivera OrdoƱez and Cayetano)

was it one of them that you saw in the ring?? Because that is amazing. I don't like the idea of it, but it is such a rich part of Spain's history that you have to appreciate it right? Your trip looks amazing. Glad you went to a bull fight!!