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Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Photographer
Alain Schroeder
Dead Goat Polo
Gomma Photography Grant 2021 Finalists

Gomma Photography Grant 2021

Dead Goat Polo

Photographer

Alain Schroeder

Dead Goat Polo

04 Feb, 2022

Kok Boru is the national sport of Kyrgyzstan. Dead Goat Polo as some refer to it looks more like cavalier rugby with a headless goat as a ball. Two teams of five fearless men on horseback try to score a point by heaving the 20-kilo body into the tai kazan (goal) at either end. Only stallions are used in this game because they are naturally anti-social and eager to fight off rivals. The players train their horses to muscle out other horses in the pack while they themselves wrestle each other to snatch the goat and gallop toward the goal, slamming into the rubber tires of the meter-high mound.

About the photographer

Alain Schroeder

Belgian photojournalist Alain Schroeder (b. 1955) has been working in the industry for over four decades. First as a sports photographer in the 80s, then shooting book assignments and editorial pieces in art, culture and human stories. In 2013, he uprooted his life, trading-in his shares in Reporters, to pursue life on the road with a camera. Schroeder now travels the world shooting stories focusing on social issues, people and their environment. «I am not a single shot photographer. I think in series,» he says adding, «I strive to tell a story in 10-15 pictures, capturing the essence of an instant with a sense of light and framing.» He has won many international awards including Nikon Japan, Nikon Belgium, Felix-Schoeller, TPOTY, Istanbul Photo, Days Japan, Trieste Photo, PX3, IPA, MIFA, BIFA, PDN, the Fence, Lens Culture, Siena, POYI and World Press Photo.