Photographer Tony Chirinos’s father used to tell him stories over the dinner table about his youth in Cuba. They usually included cock fighting, a popular entertainment in Cuba and other areas of Latin America.
When Chirinos found out that the sport was still legal and popular on the small Colombian island of San Andrès, he decided to see for himself.
After his first trip to the island in 2000, Chirinos found himself captivated by the sport, the culture, and the trainers and gamblers who love it. Over the next seven years, Chirinos continued to make periodic trips to expand the project.
Chirinos shared some of the photos here (check out more recent work at his website).
When Chirinos first arrived, he simply walked into the cock fights with no introduction. This was a dangerous move for an outsider.
Gambling is a huge part of the cock fighting culture. In a country where most people's wages average around $200 a month, Chirinos said he frequently saw people putting down bets of $1,000 or more.
Chirinos said that spectators and trainers use a special slang and hand signals to indicate how the fight is going and if a rooster is near death.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider