Beg, Borrow and Hijack locations with Expressions Dance Company (EDC)
One of my favourite portrait shoots I've ever done was with Expressions Dance Company (EDC).
EDC are a small arts based organisation in QLD. This means they do a hell of a lot with not very much. So we continued this theme for the first of our two shoots together… Borrowing and begging (read: hijacking) some great locations.
Let’s be honest, you could shoot these six incredible humans in a potato sack and they’d all still look amazing. Observing them all day during the shoot was fascinating. These are six people who live very consciously through their bodies.
Normal homosapiens just walk. These guys, however, place one foot deliberately & purposefully in front of the other and move forward. Without sounding like I’ve been sipping too many skinny quarter strength soy chai lattes with extra cinnamon (on the side); it is a little bit poetic. And that’s just walking. When they have the opportunity to dance, even in short snippets (even without music) it really is breathtaking.
To see six people with this much control over their bodies has inspired me to be more conscious of what I put my body through.
I always carry heavy gear, I wear steel cap boots, I sit for hours in front of a computer, I forget to drink enough water, I eat on the run, I fall asleep on the lounge, I rescue my underwear from my backside when I think no one is watching. I have a permanent timeslot with my osteopath who is, I’m sure, putting his kids through private school on my appointments alone.
This shoot was great and not only because I was surrounded for a whole day by people who are creative for a living. It was also great to use the form, structure and colour of our backgrounds to really compliment the form and movement of the dancers.
Just looking at these images makes me want to be fitter, stronger, healtier. I think I need to walk my dog. Non-stop for a year.
We did another shoot just the other day, so stand by for a few more individual portraits of the dancers. I mean, not literally - don't sit there until I release the blog post. It could take a few days. Besides, I have an osteo appointment.
