I love dancing. Surely you’ve realized this Very Important piece of information about me by now, but just in case you haven’t, I REALLY LOVE DANCING. All kinds. Classical ballet. Salsa. Broadway-show tap dancing. Club. Hip hop. Swing. The crazy steps of Dubstep. The Time Warp. Seriously, I just love it with everything in me.
So you can imagine how completely in my element I felt last week when a spontaneous dance off suddenly happened in the middle of the High Museum of Art. Really. It happened before my very eyes. And it. Was. Awesome.
Mark and I were there to shoot the opening party for the latest exhibit there, KAWS: Down Time. The art’s pretty crazy: pop-art and graffiti-esque pieces meets The Simpsons and Disney characters. The High is a great space already, and with so much color practically exploding out of the paintings and sculptures, the contrast was very cool. The massive grid of round paintings was my absolute favorite.
Something that I’ve noticed about this internship so far: when you’re out shooting with Mark or Raven or whoever, they’ll come up to you and say, “Okay, let me see”. And that’s your cue to hand over your camera so that they can peek at your LCD and see exactly what you’re shooting, crappy angles, bad lighting, and all. Photography is very much an evolving process, especially when you’re in an internship. I’m not 100% confident in my ability to shoot. I have to experiment, fiddle with my settings, and try things that sometimes work and sometimes don’t work. So when I hear the now-familiar “let me see”, I get nervous. (The first time one of them said this to me, I almost peed myself. Um, WHAT? But I just took a picture with the lens cap still on. Nooooo!)
But the thing is, letting them see has already started to help. A lot. Sometimes it’s “next time, back it out a little more” or “lower your f-stop”. It really is true what they tell you in 4th grade English class- constructive criticism actually does help. Honest. And something else that helps? When you hear, “good job”. It gives me this little boost of confidence that I usually only get from a workout or a drink or a much-needed pep talk from my husband.
So. Back to my night. Oh, and, you know, the part where the spontaneous dance off happened. Also… ahem. Did I mention DJ Hurricane was spinning?
I worked my way around the crowd a bit but mostly stayed in the middle, where a circle of people had formed around the bravest dancers, and just shot. It was incredible and SO MUCH FUN. (At this point, Mark sent me on the very intern-like errand of getting us some drinks. Much to Mark’s chagrin, I came back with water. Uh-huh. Hey. I’m sticking by my decision: too many PBRs and I’d have been the one breakdancing out there.)
What. A. Night. This is why I love Atlanta.
Now go turn on your Pandora and dance around your kitchen.
4 Comments
FANTASTIC. all of it. my favorite post if yours yet.
Thank you!!
You made my night.
"You should be dancing" –Bros. Gibb
Girl, you work that camera so well!