Mikhail Baryshnikov
Looking for the Dance, Untitled #20 Merce Cunningham Dance Company in “eyeSpace” by Merce Cunningham / cm 155,8x111,4 / Anno 2008 / Stampa a pigmenti - Pigment print
Looking for the Dance, Untitled #36 Escola de Samba Portela, Argentina / cm 155,5x111,7 / Anno 2014 / Stampa a pigmenti - Pigment print
Looking for the Dance, Untitled #14 Disco / cm 154,9X111,4 / Anno 2006 / Stampa a pigmenti - Pigment print
Nato a Riga (Lettonia) nel 1948, Mikhail Baryshnikov è uno dei più importanti ballerini di danza classica del ventesimo secolo. “Per due decenni ho utilizzato una convenzionale macchina fotografica da 35 mm e ho sperimentato la fotografia nel paesaggio tradizionale, nei ritratti e in scatti di viaggio principalmente in bianco e nero. Ho deciso di rifiutare le ovvie opportunità di fotografare la danza, pensando che i risultati potessero essere noiosi e inutili. Poi, sfogliando alcuni vecchi libri di fotografia della danza – in particolare Ballet di Alexey Brodovitch e Ballet in Action di Paul Himmel del 1954 – ho scoperto che abbandonando l’immagine cristallina in favore di bordi sfocati e di figure amorfe ci si avvicina all'emozione e all'energia delle performance della danza.”
Born in Riga (Latvia) on 1948, Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the 20th century. “For two decades I used a conventional 35mm camera, and practiced traditional landscapes, portraits and travel shots in primarily black and white. I made a point of rejecting obvious opportunities to photograph dance, thinking the results were boring and unnecessary. Then, going through some old books of dance photography – notably Alexey Brodovitch’s Ballet, and Paul Himmel’s 1954 Ballet in Action – I discovered that abandoning the crystalline image in favor of blurred edges and amorphous figures approximates the excitement of dance in performances.”
Born in Riga (Latvia) on 1948, Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the 20th century. “For two decades I used a conventional 35mm camera, and practiced traditional landscapes, portraits and travel shots in primarily black and white. I made a point of rejecting obvious opportunities to photograph dance, thinking the results were boring and unnecessary. Then, going through some old books of dance photography – notably Alexey Brodovitch’s Ballet, and Paul Himmel’s 1954 Ballet in Action – I discovered that abandoning the crystalline image in favor of blurred edges and amorphous figures approximates the excitement of dance in performances.”