I got a number of emails about my latest poem posted on my literary blog https://vahezen.blogspot.com/2023/07/part-of-joy-of-dancing-is-conversation.html . Interestingly, much of the feedback was about the photo I had used atop the poem.
So, here is the background to the photo:
I took two shots of a small gathering during a recent visit to the East Coast, with a 1954 Kodak Retina IIIc camera. In that crowd was a woman who moved in her high heels with the grace of a dancer. I took the photos without really knowing what to expect, but hoping that I can capture her fluid movement.
Of course I cropped the frames, did a bit of burning and a lot of dodging under the 1960s HANSA Pro enlarger on which I used a 1960s Soviet camera lens (Industar 61L/D) instead of a flat field enlarger lens. I like the unexpected effect such a set-up can produce.
To my delight, the two frames wove a story I had hoped to capture. The photo I used to illustrate my poem is at the top of this page. That was the second frame I shot. The first frame was the introductory posture for the “dance”, and here it is:
I hope the readers who sent me emails wondering about the story behind the "dance shots" now have the full background.
July 19, 2023
© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023
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