No Holds Barred

About No Holds Barred: The photographs of Kjetil Kausland pull the fighters out of the arena and place them on a stage. They reconfigure space and visualise the fighter’s unconditional humanity. They appear exposed and vulnerable to the gaze; both that of the photographer and that of the viewer. The sensitivity which dominates these pictures is in blatant contrast to the dramatic background circumstances. In these pictures, one finds no reference to the drama that has just been, or is about to be, played out. The referee, the audience, the TV cameras, the show and the circus are all missing. All that remains are the fighters, a suggestion of an arena, the cage, an occasional floodlight, the canvas. The sound of elbow hitting face and the ensuing roar of the audience are absent here.

– Excerpt from Brutally Silent by Arne Skaug Olsen