Story of a Photograph: Ballerina at the Laundromat
As an alternative to the traditional ballet pictures of leaping figures, pas de deux, impossible elongations, and gravity-defying feats, I decided to do a series on ballerinas in everyday situations.
I began the series in 2017 in Berlin, where I live part-time. Because I had had great luck in Nashville shooting Sadie Bo, who later became the prima ballerina of the Nashville Ballet, I turned again to a real-life ballerina in Berlin. Off the web site of the Stadt, or City, Ballet, I found a soloist and company dancer named Maria Bompouli. She was the fairest, and I was ecstatic when she agreed to do an art shoot with me for fun.
I adore shooting dancers. They are always polite with impeccable manners, punctual, prepared, toned and aware of their entire bodies. They are beautiful artists with an encyclopedic physical vocabulary, and they of course take direction extremely well--in short, they make for ideal models.
I met Maria at the ballet for our first shoot. She was very prompt (also a mark of dancers) and more lovely. She allowed me to see her dressing room, which was, quite normally for dancers, a mess. I was grateful she was that vulnerable and open. She then offered to go upstairs and shoot in the attic, which was an awesome labyrinth of scaffolds and pipes with wooden plankways in patchy light. As it was definitely off the beaten path, I appreciated her daring and initiative.
Along with an array of splendid ballet poses, she smoked, put her shoes on, and did a variety of unconventional poses. While more than willing to take direction, her ideas were the best.
We moved outside and down into the subway. More great stuff-- so much charm and inescapable charisma. A killer combo.
Needless to say, it definitely worked. I signed her up for my ballerina-in-public-project.
After a wonderful foray in the subway, we tried a couple of shoots at a nearby laundromat. They didn’t work—it was both too cramped and there wasn’t enough atmosphere. With some persistence and mostly luck, I fell upon the one and only Freddy Lack.
It was idea?.
Besides having a big open space before the washing machines, allowing me enough distance away from Maria to shoot the whole wall behind her, the wall itself was the prize. On it was a huge scene straight out of Central Casting— a view of 50’s era apartment building with lines and lines of laundry wafting in a slight breeze. With its warm colors and tones, it struck me as something out of Rome on a summer day.
I called the place and made a reservation, and a few days later Maria and I arrived there on a chilly and wet November day in 2017. I looked around. It was as I expected— and more. Typical Berlin-style, it also is a display space for some of Berlin’s most accomplished contemporary artists. Just couldn’t get any cooler. (The framed piece to the upper left of Maria is a watercolor of Mother Theresa.) After briefly talking to the nice attendant, we began. Maria got out of her street clothes and dressed in her top and tutu. As usual she offered my choice of slippers— I chose the robin’s egg blue ones you see.
She then climbed on top of the central washer and, taking the initiative, started twirling her feet as she filed her nails. It was a great look.
I got off some nice shots, but I didn’t have a true keeper. Then Providence arrived in the form of a small, white cuddly dog, who was with a nice younger couple, Tamara and Lars. Fortunately they spoke good English (all the people you’d like to speak to in Berlin do— the people you have to speak to, speak only German) and they very nicely agreed to try out Snow as a walk-on.
She was a fine old lady, very sweet, and docile. She moved slowly. And that dog could keep a pose. Basically if you put her somewhere, she stayed there. For our purposes, a more perfect canine has never been born.
We tried putting her below Maria, but she rolled over to the side. Unfortunately it kinda looked like she was dead. A no-go. So we pivoted and put her next to Maria on top of the machines facing her.
Bingo.
The shoot progressed very quickly from there. It took a few minutes to frame it right, then I made about 15 shots. We got it.
I thanked Tamara and Lars, patted Snow, and fussed over Maria’s great performance. We all agreed to shoot together again.
After I got home, I immediately checked out the shoot. No issues, all good. After cleaning up some things in the shot, you see it where it is now here.
Along with good planning, the right setting, and great models, it takes a bit of luck to get a shot like this- like Snow walking in. With the laundromat idea, the third time was definitely the charm. It left me with one of my favorite shots and the memory of, miraculously, capturing magic in a bottle.
I owe you one, Universe.
Clean Rinas.
Executive in Residence at Duke, CoFounder/CMO grogo.com, Chairman Emeritus at McKinney
3 年Great story!