About this project
Dancers have long served as muses and models for artists of all different visual mediums. As in Degas’s ballerina studies, or Picasso’s imaginative lithograph, Le Ballet, they act as brokers between the abstract nature of human spirituality and the tangibility of the physical world. But what image of humanity do these works reflect? What questions of human identity and crisis do they reveal? Are they simply about beauty, or do the bodies of the dancers provide symbolic material for the ethical, political, and aesthetic questions raised by man’s own image of himself? The exploration of the boundary between artist and muse -- in myths and sagas, in the earliest records of ritual and art -- is part of the great ongoing debate about creation itself.
As an investigation of the relationship between artist and muse, I have began to photograph traditional and contemporary dancers from the major New York Dance Companies, including The New York Ballet, Martha Graham and Paul Taylor Company, among others. The work is a result of a unique collaboration between the dancers and myself. While the project has had a successful start, I am having to cut corners and make compromises due to lack of funds. The money I raise will go to: equipment rental, photo assistant fees, test prints, transportation to and from location to location, data storage (massive files require lots of hard drives and back ups), and stylist/prop costs.
Please check out my website to view my completed works: www.haleyjsamuelson.com
You will also find out information regarding previous exhibitions, press and publications.
To see my work in progress please check out my facebook page: www.facebook.com/haleyjs
The work will be under the photo section in an album titled Work in Progress
FAQ
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16
Backers
$3,400
pledged of $3,000 goal
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on January 9, 2011.
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Credit in the gallery brochure at the exhibition opening, tentatively scheduled for next fall 2011, and on the projects website links.
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A custom postcard with a Thank You message from the artist.
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A one of a kind 8" x 10" work print, signed and dated by the artist. These prints are experimental and vary in tone, often having markings or notes made on them regarding process and ideas.
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You will get 1 custom 8x10 C-Print (professional color print) of my work mailed to you, signed and numbered. You may choose from the project or from my website the image you would like.
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A private portrait session with the photographer if you live in the New York area. If outside the New York area, an opportunity to send the photographer your own digital files for professional grade, hi res retouching.
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A signed and number 16"x16" C-print from the series.
Project By
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I am a New York city based photographer, represented by Hous Projects gallery in Soho. My work has been shown at art fairs across the globe, including Photo LA, Photo Miami and Art Basel. In June 2009, I had my first NYC Solo Show, "Another Room" which was well received and gained some publicity, most notably a short review in The New Yorker by Vince Aletti. My work has been published in several international magazines including Zoom Magazine, Oxford American Photo France, and Korea Photo+ among others.
