Discobolus is a photographic project and book in which I explore the tension between external perfection and internal vulnerability. At the heart of this work are bodybuilders, men and women who sculpt their bodies with immense discipline and effort, striving for an ideal that is both celebrated and unattainable.

The title Discobolus refers to the ancient Greek sculpture of the discus thrower, a symbol of physical perfection, balance, and harmony. But while the original Discobolus is frozen in an idealized form, my subjects are real, flawed, and human. I am not interested in glorifying the aesthetics of bodybuilding. Instead, I use it as a visual language to question the societal ideals we impose on ourselves, and the emotional cost of pursuing them.

Throughout the project, I was drawn to the contrast between strength and fragility. The heavily trained, hyper-visible bodies in my images often reveal something else: tension, fatigue, isolation. Muscles become masks, and perfection becomes a form of armor.

The book Discobolus brings these themes together through carefully curated color and black and white images and sequences. It is not a documentary on bodybuilding, but rather a visual essay on the performance of strength. The layout and design reinforce the duality at the core of the project: between power and vulnerability, light and shadow, self-image and societal expectation.

With this work, I aim to raise questions rather than offer answers. What do we reveal when we try to hide? What is the weight of perfection? And how do we learn to see beyond the surface?