Art
Sometimes beauty can be seen in the simplest of things. Here is a selection of flowers that I have shot. All the shots below were captured using a Mamyia M645 medium format film camera. The monochrome shots were taken on Kodak Tri-X and the colour shots on an out of date roll of Fuji Provia Slide film. Shooting out of date film has given the film a strange washed out look, along with a strange but interesting colour cast.
I mentioned in my last blog It was a pleasure to work with Paul in his studio for this shoot, and a little surprise in this blog, as I'm sure you have guessed for the title, these are the analog film photographs from that day.
I think these shots capture the mood and atmosphere in Paul's studio much better then my digital shots could have. To me the shots below feel much more alive and human. For those interested I shot these on my Mamyia M645with an 80mm ƒ2.8 lens using Kodak Tri-X film. The grain and tonality of the film was perfect for capturing Paul at work. While the lighting was low and I had to compensate this with some slow shutter speeds, this gave another human element with the motion blur of his movements. Non the less while we chatted, we both worked away, Paul painting and working on a few of his paintings and me carefully taking shots. In the few shots below Paul is working on part of his 1916 set of paintings.
After working with two fantastic ballerinas back in late 2014, I decide it was time to revisit the idea and project to shoot with dancers. This time I wanted to be a bit more free with ideas, I went into this shoot thinking I'd like something more moment based and dynamic.
Choosing a location to suit this shoot was an easy task to do, this was because I wanted to continue a common theme through from my last shoot of. The area we chose to shoot in this time was Smithfield in Dublin city center. I found that the city architecture in this area really helps contrast the many of the aspects of the clothing, along with the shape and form of the dancers poses and movements.
This time I also decided that I wanted the dancers to tell their stories and why they started to dance and what they love about it. I set out to capture their love for the art while showing how strong but elegant they looked at the same time.
I first started ballet at the tender age of three in Myrtle Lambkin School of Dance. There I was trained in ballet, tap and jazz until the age of 19 when I completed my professional ballet grade with a distinction. It wasn't until I started college in DCU that I began choreographing both ballet and contemporary, the most recent success coming third in Ireland in 2015 after choreographing a piece with my contemporary squad.
Ballet, and dance in general, is a huge part of my life. It sounds so cliché, but it really is a form of escapism for me. When I dance, the music just takes over me and I'm able to express myself in the most personal way. For me, dancing isn't about showing off what you can do, but telling a story through calculated movements of your body. The strength of a great dancer not only has to do with physical aspects, but also the ability to tell a story while looking graceful and poised at all times. As the saying goes, it takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer
I started dancing at the age of 4 and was extremely lucky to have had Shawbrook School of Dance located right on my doorstep in Legan, Co.Longford. My dance teacher Anica Louw contributed largely to my love of Ballet, Dancing and Performance. She was amazing and offered her time to provide intense training to all of her students. We were always kept motivated to dance and all of her students were included in every production. We were taught never to compare ourselves to other dancers and to set personal goals instead of following others. This has stood to me both in dancing and my personal life to date.
Ballet has opened my doors for me and it continues to do so. It was through my love of dance that I happened to meet Conor, whose fantastic photography skills have helped to open a new avenue for me. By participating in Ballet photoshoots Conor has given me the opportunity to portray my love for Ballet through pictures.
Dancing provides you with a new context for meeting people which gives you an opportunity to make life-long friends. Dancing helps to keep me focused on goals. It is a great outlet which keeps my head clear and helps me stay healthy and keep fit. Dancing has provided me with a different way to express myself and it has improved my confidence immensely over time. Dancing is instrumental in relieving stress which is exactly what's needed after a long day at work or college. It helps build self esteem and provides a positive outlook on life.
If you're not a dancer you will never fully appreciate the hours of practice and dedication that go into one performance but it is always worth it when it's time to go on stage. I am delighted to be a member of the dance society in my college now too which has given me the opportunity to continue dancing and to have met new people from different walks of life through our mutual love of dance.
I could never thank my parents enough for sending me to dance classes from such a young age. It is an absolutely amazing, rewarding past time to have that has been a major influence in my life to date. I genuinely couldn't imagine my life without it.
The En Pointé series started out as a fascination of the art of ballet. The complex but beautiful moves and positions have been something that I have wanted to capture for a long time.
After deciding to undertake this project with fellow photographer Colin Tonge, a few weeks of planning started to prepare for the shoot. With the help of Colin he put me in contact with two ballerinas Caitríona and Loren Katie.
With the help of Colin, the two ballerinas and a lot of searching on social media and photo sharing sites, I came up with a shot and location list. ( which I was hoping to stick to, but in the end didn't)
I decided that I wanted to under take this project as a pure monochrome series that both contrasts and complemts in different ways. I was going to achieve this by juxtaposing the modes in different lighting and locations. along with contrasting clothing. While Colin shot on 35mm film for the duration of the shoot which added another level to the shoot.
The girls leotards were key to the shoot, as there needed to be a good contrast between them. To get the look I was after I asked that they wear black and white, or bright and dark colours so that they would contrast when the image were turned into monochrome.
The day of the shoot, the weather was looking like it was going to be against us. it was grey and a bit windy. Lucky this helped the shots, giving a natural breeze and a beautiful soft light, with very few shadows to work in.
To get accurate exposure my assistant Richie metered the light using a hand held light meter as the cameras built in meter could not give em an accurate value due to the colour of the leotards.
Working with Caitríona and Loren Katie was an absolute pleasure, they both helped out by giving input into the shots, and even spotting some locational shots that I would have missed. To check out the full series head on over to the series gallery. Please head over to Facebook and give me page a like and share
