But to me, anytime, anywhere a dancer leaps, it is improbable. A flight of fancy, of beauty, a form struck or created in space where the body does, perfectly, that which it has been trained to do via countless hours and many years of practice. Truly, when you see for instance, a grand jeté, the laws of gravity are suspended, both physically, and in your heart.
Another improbability about the banner picture above is the measure of reverberation it has, sort of like a keeping a constantly vibrating tuning fork on my hard drives.
Partnering with Vital Impacts, and my dear friend Ami Vitale, I loaned this image for a flash sale the Vital Impacts organization staged for the benefit of Ukraine. She had reached out to a group of National Geographic photographers of all eras to offer prints. This picture, made in a Havana kitchen, was bought, repeatedly, to the tune of over $80,000, 100% of which went to Direct Relief. The funds accumulated by the sale of prints from this group of stellar photogs had huge impact and resulted in shipping more than 1,400 tons of medical supplies, with a wholesale value of $545 million to the conflict zones of Ukraine and beyond.
The prints are beautifully rendered by the outstanding lab, Paper and Ink, and printed with archival inks on Canson Infinity Etching Rag paper.
Ami and Eileen Mignoni are still spearheading a print flash sale this year, called The Winter Collection, with percentages of the sale destined for the Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots Foundation, and to fund Vital Impacts grants to future conservationists and their efforts. This print is offered again, amongst a stunning array of images of this beautiful planet. Photography with beauty, impact and purpose.
Vital Impacts it doing just what its title suggests. In a world battered, seemingly, beyond recognition, pictures, the universal language of the earth, are talking loudly.
More tk….
I love your work….very innovative
I am proud to have one of these prints in my home and prouder to know the man who made this striking image.
Many thanks, Steven. It was so good to see you in the fall. Hope to get back to the UK again this year. Stay well!!
Wow, Joe. This image is magnificent on a musical level. The resonance of the leap is echoed for me in the movement of the background stairs. Their energy may be stagnant to the naked eye, but the “tuning fork” vibration of the ballet moves the mind moving around the room, conjuring histories that go back to who knows when. The food, the socialization, the dancing… And the results of the sale––truly inspiring.
Appreciate the thoughtful words, Vincent! All the Best, Joe
A picture can say so much, and it is an important tool to help, among other things, people in need. As well as pointing out errors and shortcomings in our world.