Dancing Girl

Nice-like it a lot. Next time try TRI X 400

IR is hard to do both for exposure and focus, but the soft effect can make it worthwhile, as in this case. Also the film is hard to load in the field as the first many frames get streaked/fogged. Congratulations, nice picture.

I loved this image when first I saw it.. but I didn't know it was yours.. you may not know this but I'm a bit of a fan! Thanks for the active support with Shannonhouse.. I think we made an impact.. although he's still far to obdurate to admit to his shortcomings, his commentary and rating of other people's hard work has certainly becoming civilized.

cool picture, glad found you here. Victor

To begin with, who ever wrote "This photo well communicates the world-within-a-world feeling of dancing" really ought to enroll in an advanced composition class at the local community college. Fortunately, the photograph itself transcends the blurb. I believe it is well chosen as a POW.

 

I like how this shot brings out the sensuality of the dancer. The angle of the shot accents the dancer's full (but not fat or flabby) belly. The roundness of the belly is highly sensual--a thought to be remembered when fashion is dictating that flat bellies are sexy. Dance is a mating ritual however it is performed. If you will, it formalized animal passion. It is not a world with in a world but very much a part of this world--however shy one is to admit it. For all the hideous body-piercing, this lady is sexy. That may be the point of the photograph--its epiphany.

 

That said, I don't think this is Andy's best work. This is one of his rare B/W shots. The tones seem a somewhat bland to me. I wish the left arm had been burned in a little. This to my mind detracts from the impact of the photo. But I could be very wrong. Andy's best photos are like a lot of Raymond Carver's most subtle short stories. You walk away thinking, "Well, okay, that's nice but so what?" A few days later you think about the story and the top of your head blows off--Wow--I see! I've had this experiences with too many of Andy's photos to completely trust my judgement of this one as final.

 

There is an inexoerable raw energy in all of Andy's photographs. it is present here, however muted by the limits of blank and white (in my present view). This raw energy invariably transcends the formal walls of polite art school composition (a gob of spit in the face of art, to steal a phrase from Henry Miller.) As such, a photograph like this is a wonderful antidote to the well-composed but tepid waiting room fine art that generally gets the top accolades in Gallery.

And another one's gone and another one's gone and another one bites the dust.