Blue Encounter

The setting was perfect, perfect for a photographer who's having trouble making images of real, live people. I hesitate to engage them -- but I'm getting there. 

Still, a dark, narrow gallery crammed with exquisitely dressed mannequins was ideal -- people, sort of, that I didn't have to talk to, plus they stood still.

The show at the Keni Valenti Gallery in Wynwood featured classic gowns from the '30s, '40s, '50s and '60s along with Haitian flags on the walls. Very dynamic -- sequins sparkled everywhere.

The mannequins were an otherworldly blue, and the exact same color was on the walls.

The light was awful, a challenge. Luckily, Carl had introduced me to "white balance" a few days before.

I was able to get up close and personal with these inanimate "people," in their faces. The constancy of the blue amid the swirl of all the colors of the fabrics was odd but calming, something to focus on.

But then, another face appeared, human, exotically adorned, and I suddenly realized just how lifeless those previously exciting mannequins were. I needed to capture the warmth, the expressiveness, the eyes of a human being. I forced myself to ask her if I could make an image. Turns out, she forced herself to say yes. I snapped her, and she fled. We talked a little while later. Bridget confessed that people have been taking her image all night and she was tired of it all. I confessed that I don't like to ask people if I can make an image. I congratulated the two of us for going beyond ourselves.

                                        Nancy Ancrum