Meet the Yorkshire man who photographs brutal bare knuckle fights and Bradford heroin addicts

John Bolloten, a documentary photographer, started shooting the underground sport in 2020 - and always aims to be right next to the action with his wide-angle lens - so close that he sometimes gets sprayed with blood.

In the video above, John tells Lucinda Herbert why he's drawn to this visceral subculture - where fights are ‘brutal’ and often last just a few seconds, but the participants say it has a ‘positive impact’ on their mental health and is like ‘therapy’.

John, who lives in Bradford, explains how he ‘immerse[d] himself’ in the extreme world of underground hay-bale fights - not only taking action shots of punches being thrown, but also getting to know the people involved. “The photos are just one part of the project, I also visited the fight club members at their homes and interviewed them. Their reasons for doing bare-knuckle fighting are varied and it’s such a small amount of people who will ever want to try this.”

Sat in the Open Hand Gallery in Blackpool, where his Blood Brothers exhibition is currently on display, John says that the men in the images include some former veterans with PTSD, and some in drug and alcohol recovery who use the sport as a form of therapy. “Some people, especially men, just enjoy fighting but they don’t want to get in trouble. This is a very positive thing, and it’s all consensual.”

John will also be launching his latest book, ‘This is Not a Life, It’s Just an Existence’, at PHOTO NORTH festival in Leeds this April 2025. This new book, a culmination of his work on drug addiction, will feature 18 gripping life stories, from his five years documenting heroin and crack addiction on the streets of Bradford.

Watch the video interview above.