When a close friend took a break from his CPA career in 2022 to pursue Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu full time, I initially saw the project as an inspirational story about ambition and risk to follow one’s dream.

As I continued photographing for three years, the project shifted. What began as a narrative about inspiring others became an examination of how identity is constructed and performed across different environments and times.

The contrast between ritualized masculinity in the dojo, corporate structure and private solitude, revealed the duality between performance and vulnerability. I started looking for what trembles under the surface, where what seemed firm begins to give.

This shift forced me to reconsider my own approach to the initial story. Rather than illustrating ambition, I began to observe patterns of doubt, repetition, and emotional labor. Those were complex feelings. I slowed down to resist heroism, which opened ambiguity into the frame after several years.