These two photos capture both the beauty and the physical evidence behind my hard work at dance. As dancers we are mainly told to make everything we do look effortless even though it is hurting our bodies. Personally, my pointe shoes that I wear during my ballet class cause me the most pain leaving me with swollen feet, blisters and bruised toenails or at times no toenails at all. With all the stereotypes about ballet dancers in particular, I thought that this would prove those assumptions wrong and really demonstrate the reality. The photo without my pointe shoes, show the bandages and tape I use to cover my wounds and it represents my fearful self in a certain way. Each time I wear these shoes, after class I have a fear inside me as to what I will see once I take them off. The photo of me in my pointe shoes is when I feel most beautiful, I feel like I can do anything. What I like about these photos is that nobody else sees the fearful side other than myself, from the outside it simply looks like I am dancing and enjoying myself which may be true, but the inside of my body is on fire and it is telling me to stop. Although I love the way dance makes me feel, there is another side to it that brings out the fear in me. I shot the first photo from an outside perspective so it comes off as what others see and their point of view. The second photo I shot from my perspective since I really wanted to emphasise how personal this reality and fear is.
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