This time, it's personal. I've chosen the following pictures for different reasons. Some of them hold a special place in my work. A few happened abroad in a city that I love: San Francisco. I rarely shoot men so I had to talk about the 2 that worked with me so far. I also wanted to talk about the dancers with whom it worked right away and that I would love to work with again. Wonderful memories made possible with "InMotion", a sweet look over my shoulder on my past work.
1/ Rochelle Rankin San Francisco (USA 2014)
A part of my job that I love the most and that I would like to do more often... Travel! I love this city, the food, the people, the vibe... My English isn't as fluent as it used to be and Rochelle talks very fast... ha, ha! Communication was easy though as we barely had to speak. She knew right away what I was looking for. It was hard to choose one in particular from this series. They all have something special, but here is my personal top 3 (+1):
2/ Pascal Molat in San francisco (USA 2014)
Principal at the San Francisco Ballet, I never thought that such a dancer would ever accept to pose in front of my camera. We missed each other when the company was in Paris, and when I knew that I was going to San Francisco, I just thought that I might give a call. I'm so happy that we could finally make it! Pascal showed us a few spots that he liked. It was our first time in Sf for me and Marlène so it was nice to have him showing us around. I love these pictures can't believe a year has passed already.
3/ Kevin Yee Chan inSan Francisco (USA 2014)
Another dancer that I missed, at the time he was part of the Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg. When I knew that he was in San Francisco during my stay there, I had to meet him somehow. Very few men have asked to work with me and, when I still did collaborations, none of them were thrilled about making pictures. For those who wonder, shooting exclusively women is not a choice.
4/ Sarah Hochster in Strasbourg (France 2015)
Working with Sarah is always special. We met only twice, and I wish we had more opportunities to work together. It just worked... The only problem is that we're both perfectionists, and our shoots could go on forever trying to fix the tiniest details! I chose a few of my favorite shots and an unpublished picture from one of our shoots. You can find our past work together in previous posts here: A year in review, and here: Closer to the edge (full galleries and behind-the-scenes videos). The following pictures are my personal favorites and as a gift a never-shared before picture from our first session.
5/ Vanesa in Montréal (Canada 2015)
Vanesa is just incredible! One of the shoots that I anticipated the most before my trip to Canada. Communication was easy, she's professional and is such a beautiful dancer. I love it when things unfold smoothly when everything makes sense and works right away. This is what I felt when working with her. Experience and maturity matter on a shoot. I wish all my sessions were as easy.
Down below is a never-shared before picture... A behind-the-scenes of our work together is available here: First shoot in Montréal. I really hope that we will have the chance to meet again. Underneath are unpublished pictures of this photoshoot.
So this is it! What are your thoughts? I will probably continue to work with ballet dancers in the future but I might do it less often. I have this feeling recently that I have to diversify my work to keep the spark alive. I'm scared to get stuck in a creative slump in my photography, that's why I'm looking out for new challenges and new projects. I have a few ideas in mind that I would like to materialize, but they will wait until next year... Don't go too far!