The reason why these are my top 3 photos is because the images create a sense of fluidity and grace. The flowing fabric highlights the movement, adding drama and elegance:

• Symmetry and Balance: The dancer’s pose creates a visually harmonized balance, with her extended arms and legs forming elegant lines.

• Negative Space: The dark background provides negative space, making sure the subject remains the focal point without distractions.

• Reflection: The subtle reflection on the surface beneath her adds depth and dimension to the image.

The timing i think is also done really well because i was able to capture the dancer’s movements. The fabric’s positioning is particularly effective, as it appears weightless yet intentional.

The use of black and white improves the visual impact by highlighting contrast. The dancer’s light-toned legs and fabric stand out sharply against the dark background, creating a dramatic lighting between the light and shadow. This contrast highlights the subject while maintaining a minimalist aesthetic.

• The subject is a female figure standing in “en pointe,” a ballet pose highlighting grace and strength.
• She holds an umbrella-like object draped with fabric that partially covers her face, which makes the dancer looks very cool and mysterious. 

In these photos, I was able to merge Ballet dancing, fashion (which states the minimalistic view), as well as the reflection and abstraction in the texture and the mood.

Another reason this is my top 3 is because of the modernity it brings in these photos, as it shows the contrast between the Japanese and Chinese styled umbrellas, with the sharp contrast of the modern minimalistic images of the modern age. It also makes Ballet, a smooth and elegant sport, into something sharp and stone-like.

Vision

As a beautiful dancer is dancing in the abyss, covered by darkness, a white silk sheet gently floats towards her, covering her with light and happiness. As she dances, her figure changes and becomes more and more vibrant and graceful. I want to portray the athleticism and fluidity of the ballet dancer, with bold and flexible movements to showcase the light and how the light can change a person and their general perspective of the beauty of a dancer. As well as showcases the feminine view of the dancers while contrasting the darkness. As most stereotypes are told about women, they are mostly seen as weak beings. This photo showcases the power and strength that women have. The stark contrast of the black and white contrasts becomes yin and yang, the dance between life and death, creation and destruction.

I will use different effects and props to showcase the beautiful flows of the ballet dancers. The sheet that is used will be used as a “dress” that will have a rippling effect on the dancer, as well as reflection and water papers to showcase the reflection of the dancer, which will make the dancer seem like she is walking on water and in an abyss full of nothingness.

Statement of Intent

The title that I am using for this set is バレエ, which means ballet in Japanese; I am using this name because the Japanese font is beautiful, and it is one of the prettiest languages in the world. Ballet also symbolizes grace and beauty, which resonates with a lovely language. The person who inspired this set of photos is Richard Calmes; he uses stunning flows of the dress and the elegance of ballet to showcase the athleticism of ballet.

Reflections Set 3

In these photos, the theme portrayed is the beauty of ballet and the athleticism; the sheet contrasts black and white and portrays the graceful flow of ballet and the dancer. As the dancer dances in the scene, the ground is like an abyss; she is in the darkest part of the universe, spreading light with the sheet flowing next to her. The light is the only thing keeping her company.

Another theme this photo is trying to communicate is from a past book. I have described the heartbreak of a girl as she stated, “If you never loved me from the beginning, why did you find me and make me fall into this false river of love?” This photo can be used as the blackness to symbolize the girl’s original form, a blank black canvas, so pure and dull. However, as the person is giving the girl more love, using the sheet as a symbol, the white sheet symbolizes purity, just like love. Alternatively, how love is supposed to be like, as it envelopes the girl, as she gets enveloped in the heartbreak, she starts to struggle and then breaks free from this cage of love and pain. The dancer’s movements are the struggle she is giving, both painful and graceful.

Technique:

• Contrast (black and white)
• Rule of Thirds
• Reflections
• Lighting (the use of smaller more concentrated lighting) on both sides of the dancer, one where she is facing and another behind her
• Negative space

Props:

• Umbrella (Qin dynasty umbrella style)
• Mirror paper 5 x 1.2 meters
• 10meter long sheet

Room for improvements:

• the brightness + exposure
• the capturing of the poses: although there are some very good poses that are captured, a lot of fast ones were hard to capture as the shots taken at that rate tend to be a bit blurry.

other photos: 

Richard Calmes

Richard Calmes is a photographer known for his ability to highlight the beauty and athleticism of dancers, particularly in the realm of ballet. His work captures the fluidity and grace of movement, drawing inspiration from the intricate details of a dancer’s performance. The inspiration derived from the artist is the stunning flow of a dancer’s dress and the boldness of their movements. In many of his photographs, he includes these elements to show the elegance of ballet and also the technical movements. The way the dress swirls around the dancer creates motion that increases the composition, making it feel as if the dancer is soaring in the air. In this photo, the dancer’s flowing dress appears almost like wings, adding a angel like image in the photo. This imagery creates a sense of freedom and grace, emphasizing the beauty of ballet as an art form. The dancer’s athleticism and the delicate fabric of the dress creates a beautiful dance that captivates the viewer in. The colors in the background play a crucial role in shaping the photograph’s mood. Shades of white and gray from the dress which adds texture and depth.

This inspires me to use an umbrella and also a dress to showcase the technical movements of ballet while have the ground be reflecting the beauty of the dancers and the dress. I am going to us an umbrella with silk-like and cotton fabric that expresses the beauty and the flow-like dress to show a flow-like to the dancers dramatic moves.

Reflections set 2

The colors of this photo are red and white as the primary colors; the person in this photo is wearing all red while the setting is white; this brings the viewer’s eyes directly to the center of the picture as Red is a bright color that human eyes will focus on. The concept of this photo is the beauty and sadness of girls back in Chinese dynasties. They constantly suffer from being used as a tool for marriage and for families as competition. They drown in despair and sadness as they wonder what they must do to be the best in their town. That is why they sit in the water, constantly reflecting on themselves and embracing the sadness they feel at every step they take when facing criticism. This links to the artist I chose as all of the photos that she has taken are underwater or surrounding water to show the suffocation and beauty of the girls in those dynasties. The reason why Red is chosen as the title of this set is that Red both means hope and despair for these girls as they both hope that they can become the best but also despair due to the vast and dangerous steps that they have to take and have to go through to achieve the great success (as if lying and walking through the blood). The red dress and umbrella are also chosen because of the blood and the symbolism of blood as if their whole body is covered in blood; the usual white and shiny colors of their dresses being coated in blood also symbolize the despair that they are going through.

Technique:

Rule of thirds

Color contrast

negative space

Reflections set 1:

This photo was taken in Siem Reap, Cambodia, a rural village our class visited. The river that flows through the photo is a leading source of income for those who live in this village. In the dry season, the season this photo is taken, the river dries and decreases. In the wet season, the river then rises, and everything you see in this photo is gone. This photo does not reflect on the people’s lives in this village but demonstrates the past and future of how this village would look in the dry seasons. It is also used to reflect on this village’s cultures and different traditions. One example of that is the houses, the houses as u can see far in the distance and around the river are built taller, and these houses have been built like that for centuries, the boats as well reflect the ways of transportation the people have in the village. The reflections of the boats also reflect into the water as if they are one with the water as if they are mixed into the water and reflect on their uses. This photo demonstrates the older styles of houses from the past centuries and seems to be held back in time, like the first ways they were built.

Techniques used:

• Color contrast (Black and White)
• Rule of Thirds
• Depth of Field
• White Space

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VISION

The different concubines featured in many of the tales face obstacles and difficulties as they navigate their own feelings and the complex politics of life in the palace. In one story, a concubine falls in love with an emperor who, in fact, was only using her to get what he wanted. As a result, the concubine feels stabbed in the back. Her experience of being betrayed feels like being drowned. In my project, I want to create an image that makes the audience feel the intensity of this despair that the women in these stories experienced.

I will use various materials and tools that will help me create the visual effects that I desire. For example, I will use reflective mylar sheets for my first set of photographs as a way to create the underwater rippling effect in my images. I will also use a fan to make the hair and dress blow in order to mimic the movement of someone underwater. For the sword dance, I will focus on the specific poses I teach the model.

STATEMENT OF INTENT

The working title of my project is The Dance of Broken Dreams. I want my audience to feel both the intense despair and the power that the women in ancient Chinese imperial courts possessed. I will get inspiration and develop my ideas by looking for photographs by 璇玄子拍汉服, whose images inspire with me ideas of how to style my models and create underwater visual effects.

What:

Lee Friedlander is a photographer born in Washington on July 14, 1934. He is known for his landscapes and urban life. He is most celebrated for his black-and-white style of photographs and his relationship between people and their environments. While using reflections, he could layer different narratives and give a lot of urban context with (windows, mirrors, glass, etc.) He also liked to take photos of people when they were not aware that they had been taken pictures for scenes to be natural. By including reflections as one of his key concepts, he created a concept that gives viewers a more complicated perception and is more challenging to understand.

Naoya Hatakeyama, born on November 12, 1958, in Japan, has been greatly influenced by his urban surroundings. His unique perspective, shaped by living in Japanese cities, is a defining feature of his work. His focus on reflections has allowed him to create diverse perceptions and themes for his projects. By using reflections to contrast nature with the surrounding urban developments, he captures sudden moments and creates symbols and meanings of the coexistence of nature and urban life.

Lisette Model was born in 1901, and her photography includes the reflective qualities of glass to explore the complexities of urban life and human emotion. Capturing images through windows and mirrors, she created layered narratives that surrounded the cities’ chaotic energy with intimate moments. The reflections revealed hidden stories and emotions, allowing viewers to see how the world intersects with the internal struggles of individuals.

Robert Holden uses mirrors and reflective surfaces to go into the complex identity of humans. His work tells viewers to explore personally as the reflections do not always have a subject, but have multiple small subjects that represent humans and their emotions. The small objects that he photographs tells the viewer what type of personality the subject is without having to “reflect” on the subject but by using items to “reflect” about the subject.

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Lee Friedlander:

The different techniques and style that Lee Friedlander uses are black and white portraits and having the center be filled with the subject and the things that are the most important. In the first photo, Lee Friedlander uses the idea of using a piece of glass as an reflection point, he is in the center which uses the rule of thirds techniques where him and the tower is at the center of the of the middle frames. He also uses leading lines as the clock is at the center leading the viewers eyes towards the person that took the photo. In his second photo, he uses the depth of field to create a sense of depth and dimension. With the center being an reflection of a person to what looks like inside the bus, to the busy streets outside.

Naoya Hatakeyama:

Naoya Hatakeyama’s photographs are more related to nature and urban, as can be seen here, the nature elements of the two photos are water after a rain or storm and the surroundings being in urban areas like Paris and a city street. The colors he usually uses are very vibrant, which is quite different from the black and white photos tha other photographers use, which helps create a visual and a atmosphere for his work.

Lisette Model:

Lisette Model’s photography paints pictures of daily life in the urban areas as well as the emotions within. In both of these photos, we can see the perspective of what seems to be the subject of the photo, whether is using the glass as a reflection to look at the towering buildings or the clothes, or looking at sets of newspaper.

Robert Holden:

Robert Holden’s photos paints a picture of reflection where it does not show the subject as a whole, but showing the personalities that the objects show. Such as in an emergency circumstance, the items that a person would bring which shapes their personality and gives the viewer a context of what the person is like. Robert Holden’s photos are more in a personal reflection whether than showing the reflection using a person view. He uses the person’s mind.

The similarities that is shown in all these photos is the reflections that are being seen. The reflections of all the photos seems to have a focus on one specific thing. The books, pens and watches in the last photo, the women in the second photo, the lights in the second photo and the man in the first photo. They all show representation of how humans are either directly or indirectly involved in these photos. Each photo represents a story. The difference between these photos are they each find different ways to give reflections to the subject. An example like the third photo, where the viewers can clearly tell that the women, looking very optimistic and strong tells a story and a theme of never giving up. While the last photo, it shows the reflection of a persons personality as the items that they are bringing is a key idea of finding out who a person is.