Home of Fighters
Behind every punch lies a story of resilience, identity and transformation. Andrea Mae’s striking portraits take you beyond the gym to reveal the fragile strength and personal battles of fighters who find home where others see only conflict.
By Glorious
Photography by Andrea Mae Perez
For Andrea Mae Perez, the line between fantasy and reality has always been more of a playground than a boundary. With a camera slung over her shoulder, she builds entire worlds from shadow, light and a mischievous sense of curiosity. But recently, that lens has turned somewhere new: not to fashion or music, but to a space where sweat pools on mats, gloves crack against pads, and strangers push each other to the limit. A place she knows intimately. A place called Fightzone.
Located in East London, Fightzone is more than a martial arts gym. It’s a sprawling, spirited community that runs over 150 classes a week across disciplines like Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, boxing and MMA. Andrea has trained there for six years, drawn in first by the movement, then by the people. “Nobody cares who you are outside those four walls,” she says. “People welcome you like family, and push each other to become better without hesitation.” For her, it was never just a place to sweat. It was a place that kept her steady through life’s messier chapters. Eventually, it also became her next subject.
Andrea isn’t a fighter by profession, though she’s sparred her way through more Muay Thai rounds than most could manage. Born in Madrid to Spanish and American-Ecuadorian parents, she built her creative career shooting for record labels and fashion brands, while directing music videos and short films shaped by magical realism and Old Hollywood. For a long time, martial arts was something she would fit around work. Then it became something bigger. The result is Home of Fighters, a photographic series that moves far beyond traditional sports documentation.
The portraits aren’t taken in a gym. Instead, Andrea brought the fighters into a studio and let her imagination run wild. “I had been wanting to shoot a series involving the fighters at Fightzone for a while, because I realised it was such a unique community, but it took some time to find the right angle,” she says. “I’m not a documentary-style photographer. My work combines fantasy and reality, with surreal elements and humour.” That clash of worlds shaped the concept. “I thought, what if I take the fighters out of the real Fightzone location, and place them in a theatrical version of what it feels like? A place with absurd props, where I could narrate what fighting is truly about.”
The result is vivid, strange and unexpectedly tender. Each portrait is carefully staged, with theatrical backdrops and a deliberate sense of performance. Some include oversized props made from cardboard, used as visual metaphors for strength, vulnerability and the mental side of fighting. Fighters are posed in ways that feel both playful and reflective, caught somewhere between still life and character study. “Our coach Jose Varela used to say, two fighters might be equally trained, so the difference is how strong they feel in their head when they step into the ring. That confidence, that unshakable belief. That’s why I chose these props, and why they’re made of cardboard, which is so perishable. Physical strength can be gained or lost. What matters is what’s underneath.”
Many of the athletes Andrea photographed were people she knew – teammates in Muay Thai, fellow regulars at the gym – but she wanted the series to reflect the full range of martial arts on offer. She reached out across disciplines and invited professionals take part. Once the shoots were complete, she sent them a single question: what has been the hardest fight of your life?
The answers were intimate and deeply honest. Commonwealth Silver Champion and Elite National Champion boxer Oriance Lungu wrote, “My greatest struggle has been staying true to who I am while living in a world that constantly tries to shape me into someone else. As a gay woman from Hackney, I’ve had to push against expectations – whether it’s society’s narrow ideas of womanhood, the assumptions people make about my sexuality, or the pressure to leave parts of my background behind. It’s an ongoing fight, but one that’s made me more grounded in who I am and more determined to take up space without apology.”
belonging
For pro Muay Thai fighter and Fightzone coach, Carlotta Vaccari (featured in the title image), the fight was internal: “My biggest fight as a human being was losing the love for my biggest passion – Muay Thai and fighting – and for anything else in my life. I had to fight hard every day to get out of bed and do the things that I once loved. Eventually, it all paid off because I got my spark and my love for it back.”
It’s these inner battles that Home of Fighters seeks to express. Not the hits, but what happens between them. “I wanted to explore what fighting means beyond the physical side,” Andrea says. “And the diversity of the responses reflects what the community is all about.”
Sport has always been part of Andrea’s life. Her mother ran competitively and encouraged everything from basketball to athletics. These days, Andrea trains in Muay Thai, weight lifting, running, pilates and yoga. It was her husband who suggested they give Muay Thai a try together after moving back to London. “It’s such a beautiful art form that combines sport and spirituality. One class with Jose and we never looked back!”
Still, she wouldn’t call herself a fighter. “I’ve never competed. I do spar in class, but preparing for a fight takes time and energy I’m currently putting into my creative work. That said, training has taught me so much: resilience, self-belief, the power of being in the moment. My job involves a lot of thinking, but when you’re in Muay Thai, if you start thinking, you’ll get punched in the face. It really is a lesson!”
One thing Andrea was especially keen to avoid was the tired trope of the tough, emotionless woman fighter. “I admire these women so much,” she says. “They’re powerful, persistent and disciplined, but also kind, funny, and they don’t take any bullsh*t. They have a million layers like every other human. Understanding their stories and motivations really helped me portray them in this honest light.”
She shot the series entirely on film, using both 35mm and medium format. “I love the pace of shooting with film and the need to think about each frame very intentionally.” At the same time, the director recently finished her second short film, Rat King, now in distribution, while also wrapping a beauty editorial for a magazine, pitching new commercial and music projects, and developing her first feature script.
Through it all, martial arts has remained part of her rhythm. Not just for fitness, but as a counterweight to the intensity of creative life.
With Home of Fighters, Andrea Mae Perez hasn’t simply documented a gym. She has reimagined what it means to fight, and who gets to be seen doing it. Strength, as her portraits remind us, is never just about muscle. It is about being seen, being heard, and sometimes, choosing the most theatrical prop in the room to tell the truth.
Home of Fighters Series:
Created and photographed by Andrea Mae Perez / www.andreamaeperez.com / @andreamaeperez
Fighters: Boxer, Oriance Lungu / @iamoriance
Muay Thai Fighter, Molly Mcculloch / @muaymollymcculloch
Muay Thai Fighter, Carlotta Vaccari / @totta.vaccari
Muay Thai Fighter, Joana Paris / @thenewparisinlondon
Muay Thai Fighter, Tayo Duroshola / @sunchaitv
Muay Thai Fighter, Omar Taiti / @omartaiti
Muay Thai Fighter, Andre Simon / @radojunkie
Home of Fighters crew:
Lighting Assistance by Jack Thompson-Roylance / @deadbeatjack
Photography Assistance by Joonas Jaatinen / @joonas.jaatinen
Set Design by Laura Little / @laulit
Set Assistance by Adelaide Pratoussy / @daylaspace
Set Assistance by Asmae el Ouariachi / @asmae.el.ouariachi
Shot at Oppenheim Studios / @oppenheimstudios
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