Paulina Waski // Boston, MA

There’s something about lines that has always intrigued me. I’m strictly talking about architectural lines, not ballet lines. Those go without saying: ballet lines are incredible. No, in terms of architecture, I have never been an architectural photographer, but when I see lines, going in all kinds of directions, I get excited; even more so when I get to combine the two types of lines, ballet and architectural.

Line is a classical ballet term that describes the outline of a dancer’s complete body while performing steps or poses. Oftentimes, people might confuse “lines” with an actual line, as in from from point a to point b to point c, etc. When speaking about a dancer’s line (or lines), you’re usually talking about the entire body, from the top of the head to their toes.

Coincidentally, Paulina started following me on Instagram just two days before I was scheduled to fly out to Boston for my shoot with Addie. Since I only had one shoot scheduled in Boston, I thought to reach out to Paulina and see if she would be up for an early morning Mother’s Day shoot, and thankfully she was up for it. This photo was made on the backside of The Institute of Contemporary Art, in front of the Boston Harbor, right where I like to imagine The Boston Tea Party occurred almost 250 years ago.

Though we were in the month of May, where a Texan like me is already used to 90° weather, Boston is quite nippy, especially in the shade. I’ll always be grateful to the ballerinas who will bare their legs in cold weather, all for the sake of a great image.

May 9, 2021