Fall COLEaboration

Earlier this summer I got the opportunity to take part in a creative collaboration with a very creative and talented dancer, choreographer, teacher, founder of Chicago’s The Dance COLEctive, and friend of mine from college, Margi Cole. Like our early summer photo + movement collaboration (and here), we took a highly experimental approach, playing off each other’s ideas and vision in exploration of capturing images of movement that honor and explore both dance and place. Sometimes things worked and sometimes they didn’t, but each location offered unique challenges and opportunities.

Margi is fearless, and this is one of the qualities I admire most about her. She is a true artist, fully immersed in her craft. It is in this spirit of fearlessness that I take on the task of reviewing these photos, editing, and sharing. There is whimsy and creative license here, too, and I hope that shows. I mean, what is experimentation if you take yourself too seriously? Not fun, that’s what.

This time I felt more comfortable giving direction (at least a little more comfortable). I still have to temper the urge to be invisible, though. I mean, here we were on a public beach, roadside, other public places, and although it’s no longer tourist season there were people out. This is what I mean by Margi’s fearlessness… in these places she danced, and yet I was at times self-conscious as I photographed. That’s what I’m learning to abandon and to free myself from.

These are only a handful of the photos I took, but these are my favorites. Today, anyway. I’m sure as the days pass and I come back to them to create a collection for Margi, I’ll have new favorites and new edits. I’m just grateful for the process of collaboration, brainstorming, rolling with ideas as they ebb and flow, and allowing myself the freedom to create and experiment.