Photography project
in memory of Eleanor Dorman
Artist Statement
Every project has its own soul, its mood and story. Sometimes the story is written before you even think about opening a new page of your photography life, though sometimes the project becomes a story itself, creating a reality that we have never heard about earlier.
I have met Eleanor many times in the stories about her, memories, old photos where she is laughing or dancing, but never in person. She was the younger sister of Lewis, my husband, and left this world unexpectedly early when she was only 28.
She was a musician and artist, and I got her old-style CD called Dancing in the Sunlight of the Spirit. That made me think - when I was working with studio light that by changing colors of gels, angles of the light, playing with shadows - I was actually changing the spirit of the picture. Almost invisible for the people in the studio, who all see the same white backdrop and hear noise from recycling strobes, magic happens first in my imagination and then appears right in the camera.
The light creates an illusion, a different world that nobody sees - a beautiful, colorful, dreamy world, dancing in the light of the spirit!
Elena is an engineer, not a professional model, who agreed to collaborate with me for this project. I showed her differently from the way she is used to seeing herself. It was a blend of rock-n-roll, glam and sensual decadence.
Angela is the opposite color type with dangerous, magnetic power coming from her eyes. I added soft colors reminding us of Botticelli's Primavera, where the heroine coquettishly runs away from her beloved Zephyr, the warm wind and the messenger of spring.
Flowers were part of the shoot, and they gave us the idea for the color palette of this picture.
Speaking about the power of light it is important to say, how color can change the whole story, bringing to our attention personal qualities like confidence, competence and stability. Same white background...
This blend of blue colors with different densities and the neutral hair light create an absolutely distinct effect compared to the previous photo.
This is a story about times that have already passed, but it became a base for future steps on the long road in the light of the spirit!
©Elena Dorman, 2022