Friday, October 9, 2015

Ballerina + Countryside, La Habana, Cuba, Summer of 2015


This past summer introduced us to a few new girls, this young ballerina being one of them. We were waiting for one of our dancers to finish classes one late morning when we noticed this young girl with her father. They arrived on a bicycle, and he was one of the few fathers in the crowd… most being the dancers' mothers.

There was something about her eyes, how she looked at the scene around her, that prompted me to include her in this project. So we talked about our approach, and just when we decided to talk with her father they were gone. 

So we continued to wait for them and were treated to a surprise when they returned on that bicycle. We talked for a few minutes and agreed to revisit the conversation when her mother was also present.

A few days passed and we thought that we'd never connect until one day we were approached by another young girl and her mother. They happened to know me, and walked over with the very girl we were trying to contact. This was an incredible surprise to me, and we went back and forth trying to understand how we knew each other.

The previous summer I had met a man while walking in the city. When he found out that my photography included ballerinas, he called his neighbor to come over with her daughter. The mother and daughter who then walked through his door were the very two standing in front of us a year later. Trust was almost instantaneous and numbers were exchanged.

This image represents my second session with this dancer. We chose to photograph her in the countryside, to give her a better chance with regards to the sunlight. With trees all around us, she was quite comfortable being photographed in direct sunlight, and performed flawlessly.

When we ended the session, her mother came up with the great idea of using the house nearby as a backdrop. We asked the family and they agreed immediately, resulting in this image.


Note: This portrait was made with a Sony RX100M2 using available light only.

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