American Beef

Description

Photobook by
Lorenzo Bacci and Marcel Swann
Jacket and cover design: Paul Sahre
Images layout: Federico Manias
Handwriting: Jimmy Rah
Essay: Prof. Giuseppe Previtali

Size: 21×28
136 pages, 150 gsm
Stapled paperback
Uncoated 300 gsm cover, offset printed
Dust jackets offset printed, glossy laminated on the outside
ISBN:9791281835313

Belfast Photobook Award 2026 Winner 

American Beef is a collective visual research project by Lorenzo Bacci and Marcel Swann.
It explores the transformation of violence into a regulated spectacle through an analysis of the Streetbeefs phenomenon.
Observed over the course of two years in Virginia, this reality reveals the complexity of the United States as a fragmented, heterogeneous mosaic. American Beef emerges as a constellation of dissonant elements, shaping a narrative prism through which the deep-seated contradictions of the contemporary American landscape are exposed.
Founded in Harrisonburg (Virginia) by Chris “Scarface” Wilmore, the fight club offers a model where violence is confined to a controlled arena with the specific goal of resolving interpersonal conflicts without the use of firearms. This creates a paradoxical dynamic where violence becomes both the problem and its own solution. In this context, the human body replaces the weapon as the primary instrument of conflict resolution. Far from signifying anarchy, physical violence is elevated to a codified ritual, anchored in a framework of ethical rules and mutual respect.
Technology plays a crucial role in the spectacularization of these fights. Many participants do not merely fight, they perform. They lean into aesthetics and choreography, hallmarks of a society deeply shaped by digital culture. As Streetbeefs’ popularity grows, the “beefs”are increasingly joined by amateur athletes who enter the ring to perform carefully constructed personas.
In this ecosystem, an online presence is a way to affirm one’s existence. The fight becomes an experience that must be shared, viewed, and validated by an audience. This process highlights a tension between the desire to disappear from physical reality and the urgent need to exist in the virtual world, a continuous dialectic between visibility and anonymity. Beyond merely marking the end of a conflict, the video uploaded online becomes a permanent digital record, a certification of resolution that transforms a fleeting event into a permanent archive with a global reach.

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Lorenzo Bacci is a Milan-based photographer and visual artist whose interdisciplinary practice extends beyond the boundaries of the image to question the nature of representation. He deconstructs the contemporary image, revealing it as a site of meaning where socio-economic and political tensions converge. Bacci’s work is rooted in a collaborative methodology that creates a space for mutual inquiry and self-reflexive critique.  Since 2019, this inquiry into the structures of reality has expanded through the duo Bacci | Moriniello. Their work investigates the complex  entanglement  between humans and technology, focusing on the ways in which automated systems and digital infrastructures have become the primary mediators of human perception. 

Marcel Swann is a photographer based in Florence, Italy.
Very soon obsessed by visual arts from a young age, he began as a graffiti writer at 12, embracing the old-school style. He started documenting the works of other street artists to archive and study them, quickly realizing that photography was the ideal medium to explore various topics of interest.  One of his main themes is the absence of desire in contemporary society.
He is also a member of the collective BadSeedZine, founded in 2017.