Portrait and Rhythm

I received as an assignment the task of photographing Kristen Arant “The Drum Lady”. A photo to be used in a banner promoting a series of workshops and performances. I choose a black background to allow the designer to play with the texts around her image. But also, because I wanted Kristen to be just her and her drum without any distracting background. She is amazing playing her drum, but she was also very collaborative offering me many possible movements, poses, expressions and rhythm. Through the session, I realized she was looking to the camera too much, so I worked with her the idea of playing and closing her eyes to express satisfaction and concentrate with her instrument. For her this was the first time doing a professional production and we loved working together. Special thanks to Diane Yates who produced the session.