Madison McDonough // Miami, FL

I had reached out to Madison in December of 2017, months before this project was even an idea. I had reached out to a ballerina in Buenos Aires, to see if she may be interested in doing a hobby shoot, but nothing long-term was on my mind. So reaching out to Madison was simply what I do - trying to schedule a photo shoot in California, nothing more than a simple photo shoot with what I thought was a pretty unique camera. Most ballerinas - excuse me - most people her age had most likely never seen a Hasselblad. 

The day before the shoot, Madison let me know that she wasn’t going to be able to make it, that she had become sick, and didn’t want to risk it for a shoot; who could’ve blamed her? I had never really photographed a ballerina, I had no idea what I was doing. Still, I was sad, but that’s life. 

I never really thought I’d get another chance with Madison, but when I found out she had moved to Miami, and was friends with all the dancers that I was about to photograph, I knew I had to reach out and see if I could make a shoot happen. 

After this shot, one of the last frames on the roll, I told Madison, “you know, these glasses make you look like the cover of American Beauty, that movie poster.” 10 minutes later we parted ways, and I googled the cover of American Beauty. I felt so dumb. Almost Famous, Almost Famous is what those glasses reminded me of when I took that frame. Guess it’s only fitting; but at least I didn’t almost shoot with Madison - we did shoot, and I did photograph an American Beauty. 

March 14, 2021