Passage (noun)
The act or process of moving through, under, over or past something in the act of traveling from one place to another.
Portal (noun)
A large or imposing gate or doorway.
This photographic series evokes a sense of escapism, passages and changing ideals through the use of female dancers and imposing doorways. In each image a woman interacts with the frame – emerging from it, departing into it or otherwise moving inside of this space.
These images embrace the idea of turning points, escape and confinement, exploring conceptually ideas about the change in a woman’s place in modern society. These portals (or pathways) show points of departure: marrying the disturbance, leaving the box or staying and learning to redefine it – each an option on its own.
In each of these photographs, a woman is shown in a beautiful gown – not sitting still, but rather operating and embracing her power of movement. Beauty, while sometimes seen as a weakness, in these images is harnessed as an eye-catching visual display and shown as a means of conceptual strength. Each gown lending the woman bright colors and helping to visually represent a facet of her personal power. Each color also lends the subject a stronger sense of identity within these massive doorways.
Portals (Passages) examines these ideas of the move toward existing out of bounds as a woman through conceptual means – using these dramatically lit visuals as a means of communication.
Notes on Process
As a part of this shoot, I created images with a selection of dancers from my local university. In each frame, they were given the choice to interact or break the box that surrounded them in the image. This lent itself to an intriguing selection of poses and a variety of feelings that could be discovered in each interaction with the space – the options only limited by the imagination and physical capability of each dancer.
The added element of shooting in gowns lent itself to a more female driven message – one of strength in beauty, but also added a foil to the movement in each pose. These women do not sit still and look pretty, rather they convey a message of action and choice, and in most images a dominance of their surroundings. Finally, the images were processed and edited to create a harmonizing collection of cohesive photographs.
About Nikki Raitz
Nikki Raitz is a 21-year-old fine artist and photographer from Atlanta, Georgia. Her works focus mainly on movement and drama. Motion and mystery are something that deeply inspires Nikki and this theme can be seen throughout most of her works today. Her body of work includes dance photography, fine art wheatpastes, and portraiture.
Raitz is an emerging artist whose work has been shown regionally, nationally and internationally. She is being classically trained as a painter and currently working to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Nikki is looking forward to continuing working prosperously and abundantly in different areas of the art field. Her portfolio works are constantly growing and she is committed to creating new work, chasing new inspiration, but also following through with continued strong exhibition appearances. [Official Website]
