Push down to go up, Lauren

My photography journey presents me with the opportunity to meet truly amazing and inspiring people. I recently had the fortune to photograph Lauren and we created something beautiful. We originally spoke about a ballet shoot but had a somewhat impromptu photo session due to the warm weather and we flowed organically from there.

I've taken the liberty to quote her from one of her ever so inspiring posts.

In dance, there's a principle, used usually to teach levity in grande battement, but it's true of all balance and extension.

Push down to go up. Use the floor to rise away from it. Connect. Extend. I think true self-actualization and the power to make a difference in the world comes from deep consideration of the other while striving for the ultimate dismissal of the others' evaluative judgment. Moving forward only with being and speaking what's true, and never forcing others to see what you wish they would."

Lauren W.

Portrait of a Choreographer - Evelyn

Usually, during off season (Dec-Mar) there isn't much of a chance for me to shoot outdoors. However 2 weeks ago we have 65+ degree day and I had the opportunity to work with an amazing choreographer, Evelyn. 

Evelyn is an accomplished choreographer, creative director and owner of Dashiell School of Dance in Baltimore, MD. With very little time to come up with a concept I reached out to her, suggested a location that I scouted and we met for about an hours worth of photos. Incredibly humble and friendly we immediately got along and went to work. Below are just a few of the strong yet elegant images that were my favorites

 

Fuentes Stephanie Dance Project

In 2016 for Thanksgiving I spent the week in Miami with family. Though my initial reason for being there was to photograph a friend's elopement I made a secondary goal to photograph a dancer as part of my travel/dance series. You can see my first one from Boston here.

Through a friend of a friend, I had the absolute pleasure to meet and photograph Stephanie Fuentes. Stephanie is a Miami native, dancer and choreographer very eager to bring awareness to women power through the art of dance. She is also a lady boss, very funny and have an amazing presence to her.  Make sure to check out her website, link above, and show her some love on Instagram: @fsdanceproject

Our shoot in Wynwood Art District was very casual and easy going but I feel the images we created were powerful, beautiful and expressive. Enjoy some of my favorites below.