Elle Macy // Seattle, WA

Quirky. How can I make a perfectly normal image and turn it into weird? That’s been the ongoing goal since the midpoint of 2020. I’ve never been averse to The Quirk: looking through images from as early as 2018, I see some hint of it. Once I started embracing it full, though, I haven’t been able to let go. Oftentimes I will get some fight-back from a ballerina who doesn’t see eye to eye with my quirkiness. I don’t blame them: they have a certain image they need to maintain, and I get that. It’s when I can make a technically correct ballet image with quite a bit of quirk that I am most happy.

I want to make each shoot a collaboration between the photographer - myself - and the ballerina; that is something I try to preface at the onset of each shoot. This image is a product of that: quirk, technically correct ballet, and strong photographic presence with the shadows and lines. Lines! My favorite part of photography - and ballet!

June 7, 2021