Luis Marentes

Photographer Nima Taradji saw a live match of lucha libre for the first time during the May 29, 2016 Mole de Mayo street festival in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. He was impressed by its pageantry, acting and athleticism. His photography documents a spectacle that arrived to Mexico from the US in the 1930s, developed its own Mexican forms and traditions, and now returns to the US, where it is still evolving.

An American Tradition Took Shape In Mexico — And Then Returned To The US

A photographer documents the performance of an iconic sport that is creating new traditions in Chicago.

By Luis Marentes and Nima Taradji