Arthur Fink's Page

Full Name:

Arthur FInk

About Me:

I'm a dance photographer.

When asked to provide an "artist’s statement", I typically refuse. “There is none!", I write. "Look at these pictures, and see what you get. Do I need to write about my passion or excitement, my vision, my technique, or that making these images was a deeply spiritual encounter? My statement is in the visual experience you have.”

Indeed, the images should speak for themselves. Any statement that I write would be about my experience and my process -- but not about the images.

I’m as interested in documenting the work and energy that goes into dance as I am in photographing the final performance. Being in the studio as dances are being created, or even just as the dancers are preparing themselves, feels like being in a delivery room as children are being born. Amidst the pain or anguish, tempered with rhythm and support, and bolstered with faith, new life emerges. It’s physical, sometimes sensual, often spiritual. And too often this process is ignored, as image-makers look only at the final result -- the dance.

There is an interesting duality in my work. I may be telling the dancer’s story, or the choreographers story, with images that are journalistic, clear, descriptive. But just as often

I’m recording my own impressions of what I see and feel. I used to worry that my dance images, which may appear at first to be flawed because they are blurry, out of focus, or grainy, were more about me than about my subjects. Now I don’t worry at all -- just acknowledge this fact, and listen with interest as the dancers and choreographers take in my vision.

Dance photography is always a collaboration, and grows out of a relationship with the dancers and choreographers, a sense of trust and respect, and a willingness to share what is really an intimate space.

Do you have a website or blog? List the url here:

http://www.arthurfinkphoto.com