For Paul O’Rourke, photography was initially just a hobby, a way to express that side of himself that needed to make images. As a kid he used to paint and draw and learned to play guitar in his mid-teens. “Music and images are both very important to me,” Paul says. “When a friend introduced me to photography in my early twenties I was hooked immediately and have become quite obsessive about it.”
His interest in capturing dance was borne out of an ongoing personal project to explore the theme of movement in his photography. “Since we naturally move around in our clothes,” Paul explains, “I am interested to capture an aspect of movement in my work, mainly from a fashion point of view. The natural extension of that was to incorporate dance – a more extreme form of movement – into the developing project.”
The model in the shot is Lauren O’Donnell. Lauren trained as a ballet dancer but damaged her left wrist, requiring more than one operation. She is also a makeup artist and model. “The perfect credentials,” says Paul.
About the Photographer: Paul O’Rourke works part-time as a photographer. He mainly shoots portraits and portfolios but creates commercial work as well. His images of jewelery have been published in Making Jewelery Magazine and his photograph of a barn owl touching down has been displayed in an exhibition at the Tate Modern in London.
You can see more of Paul’s work at his website www.porourke.co.uk, or in his Flickr photostream.
Nichelle Suzanne is a writer specializing in dance and online content. She is also a dance instructor with over 20 years experience teaching in dance studios, community programs, and colleges. She began Dance Advantage in 2008, equipped with a passion for movement education and an intuitive sense that a blog could bring dancers together. As a Houston-based dance writer, Nichelle covers dance performance for Dance Source Houston, Arts+Culture Texas, and other publications. She is a leader in social media within the dance community and has presented on blogging for dance organizations, including Dance/USA. Nichelle provides web consulting and writing services for dancers, dance schools and studios, and those beyond the dance world. Read Nichelle’s posts.
