Alicia Holloway // New York City, NY

I try to make it a point to visit NYC several times a year, and this shoot occurred on my 5th visit to NYC for my Hasselblad Ballet project. After my 4th visit is when I connected with Alicia, though. She reached out to me after seeing some images I had made of another NYC ballerina, Jackie Bologna, and asked if I would like to shoot with her. Unfortunately for me, I had already left NYC; so we agreed on shooting the next time I visited, schedules permitting.

I usually like to select nondescript backdrops, but was really struggling to find a location for my shoot with Alicia. Three days before the shoot, I reached out to local NYC dance photographer Jon Taylor and asked him for help with finding this spot. I felt cheeky asking for help, and would have completely respected his decision had he said he would rather not disclose this particular black wall of rocks. But true to his nature, Jon was more than happy to help, letting me know of TearDrop Park, near the site of the original World Trade Center Towers. Aptly named, water flows down the side of the rocks, symbolizing the tears the world shed after 9/11.

Technically speaking, I knew that because of Alicia’s dark skin tones, and the dark rocks, I would have to take exceptional care with how I metered. I don’t always use a grey card, but this time my trusty Pentax Spotmeter V came in handy. My goal was to place Alicia within Zone V, the rock within Zones III and IV, and her shoes within Zone VIII. Thankfully, the lighting was perfect, everything came into place perfectly - the dream exposure for the dream ballerina.

September 10, 2021