'Cockfighting: a type of animal combat in which two domesticated roosters prepared for fighting compete in a circular area called a gallodrome'
Cockfighting goes back thousands of years and has been part of most cultures throughout history. Although this blood sport is now banned in many countries, it is still popular in some parts of the world. In Iran and Afghanistan, roosters trained to fight each other are called Lari gamecocks (Khoros Lari). Filmmaker Reza Golchin’s portraits make these combative animals look strangely familiar.
While the development of agriculture enabled humans to produce food in abundance, it also meant they had to live alongside one another in smaller spaces. As conflicts threatened to disrupt communities, ritualised forms of sport soon provided an outlet. Gamecocks presented the perfect solution to channel our aggression. These two-legged omnivores defend their families and fight their fellows to gain possession of their territory, just like we humans do.