Thursday, May 28, 2015

Young Dancer + Racquetball Court, Santa Maria del Mar, Cuba, 2014


When we offered to photograph her at the racquetball court near the beach in an outfit from a famous designer, her expression was priceless. She loved the idea and we took her to be measured in the city for the beautiful piece in this image. This was something completely different for her, like an actor being offered a role outside of the usual.

What made it all even more amazing is that she applied her dance skills to this fashion session, and impressed the designer almost as much as the photographer. The locals stopped by the courts to practice and rather than being irritated with strangers using the space for something else, they were enchanted by her presence. They sat on the grass just outside of the concrete surface and watched as she performed.

After the session we drove out of the beach and stopped as usual for ice cream, the three of us enjoying something cool while parked on the side of the road… me, this young artist and our dear friend Alejandro. While one of his responsibilities is transportation, he is so much more than that. From picking me up at 5:30 in the morning to translating my thoughts to the families to holding a reflector to making sure we are safe, my work would be nearly impossible without him.

Tonight my mind travels to that beach in Cuba, to the side of the road next to that service station, with ice cream in each of our hands cooling down after a priceless morning of photography.

www.halimina.org

Note: This image was made with a Hasselblad 555 ELD/180 mm combination onto Fuji Neopan Acros 100 ISO film with natural light.

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