Chiaroscuro
Being a ballet dancer or an opera singer are things I’ll leave for a future life; in this one, I am a grateful spectator. They move me and touch me deeply.
I remember the first time I saw Maya Plisetskaya perform the death of the white swan from Swan Lake… I cried from emotion. That unforgettable and powerful delicacy in her movements, all alone, with just a beige background behind her. Honestly, I believe it marked my sense of aesthetics forever. And something similar happens to me with Irving Penn's photography: that austerity, that drama in black and white, and the way he places his subjects against a gray or white background, without anything else.
This monochrome visual study is my humble tribute to such inspirations; one day, I will have the pleasure of recreating it in a photoshoot.
I wanted to capture the duality the story speaks of using monochrome, along with austere lighting and set design. The strength is in the details: the gnarled branches of a tree silhouetted against the light next to the cattails; the transformation of Odette into her swan form, expressed with feathers, lace, and sparkles; the delicacy of the ballerina's features and her austere and elegant headdress; the expression of the typical slender prince, with his epaulets and distinguished posture; the crossbow dramatically lit on a solitary stone; Rothbart's ferocity reflected in his face and the power of the black feathers of his costume; the beautiful coldness of Odile in backlight; and the death of Odette, portrayed with a single overhead light, showing pure and sad solitude, dramatically and elegantly exposed on a dark floor and background.
