I had been waiting for it for over a year.
When I returned to New Zealand I had on my mind to continue my Inner Core Project that I had started in Germany in 2020. In Germany it had not been difficult to find people who were willing to be my models. I approached people from different ways of life, dancers, a yoga practitioner, some friends of mine and it did not require a lot of persuasion to interest them in the project and to get them engaged.
Part of the project is the idea of shooting my collaborators semi nude. Two of the people that I approached in Germany agreed to that approach.
So I was enthusiastic and hopeful when I returned to New Zealand. But very soon I had to acknowledge that here things are very different. It was immensely difficult to find people who were willing to participate. I approached artists, dancers, even sex workers and everywhere I received the same answer. This was far too close and it was not an option.
In New Zealand people are not very willing to share what they bear deep within themselves. People are very private although on an everyday basis everyone is chatty and kind. So I faced major problems at finding collaborators for my project.
Eventually I was invited to a party that a work colleague of mine had organized and where the Samba group where she plays the drum gave a performance. I brought my camera and was allowed to shoot this event. Two of the Samba dancers in this group attracted my attention. I was fascinated by their appearance and their expression. So I approached my work colleague and asked her to create the contact. It still took four months but eventually I could meet Sarah and suggest to her to participate in my photo project. And to my big delight she said yes.
Sarah at the Samba dance performance in Wellington
Sarah is a non professional dancer who has tried out many styles and ways of dancing over more than 10 years. Her main interest lies in Brasilian Samba. She performs rehearses regularly with her Samba group.
We met for a coffee and when I explained the idea of the project I found an enthusiastic woman who was keen on trying out to share her creativity and expression through dance in a photo shoot. (For further explanations of the Inner Core Project please take a look at the blog articles about the project on this website.
We booked a community run space in Wellington above an art gallery for two hours. We were lucky with the weather so that we had light flooding into the space through the large windows. The shoot could happen entirely with natural light.
The shooting experience was delightful. Sarah immersed herself into the music that she had brought and I was allowed to observe her with my cameras. I shot over a thousand pictures and as it turned out I could be very happy with the results.
I will be writing an extra article about the editing experience of these pictures. It is definitely something special to look for and find a way of processing ICM / motion blur pictures for the Inner Core Project.
Stay tuned, stay posted…