Danny Ghitis: Kushti Wrestling

Photo © Danny Ghitis-All Rights Reserved

Danny Ghitis graduated in 2006 with a B.S. in Journalism, and interned at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and St.Petersburg Times newspapers. He received a Nikon Emerging Talent Award, was nominated for the UNICEF Photo of the Year competition for his group project with Celia Tobin titled "The Third Ward," and attended the Eddie Adams Workshop. He has been recognized by a number of associations, and granted a number of awards. He is a co-founder of the Pangea Photo Collective.

I featured Danny's Kushti Wrestling photo gallery, amongst the others on his website. Unfortunately, there's only about a dozen photographs in this gallery...which is a shame as they're luminous and perfectly composed, and more would have been more than welcome.

Kushti is India's traditional wrestling performed on clay mixed with ghee. It's an ancient form of wrestling, and was held in great importance in Indian societies. Its popularity has dwindled over the years, although there are concerted efforts to revive it. Kushti practitioners face grueling daily training, a strict diet and celibacy.