Shana Martin: Powerful & Beautiful
During college, I was introduced to dance. I’d seen ballet before, but always thought of it as “people in tights prancing around looking silly”. While working as a stagehand for a wide range of dance companies–from traditional ballet to modern to avant garde–I learned exactly how powerful and amazing dance really is. It was almost a revelation to understand that these 90-lb girls were far more powerful and athletic than most anyone in professional sports. I distinctly remember seeing a dancer with the Hubbard Street Dance Company–a woman in her 30′s (which is downright elderly in the world of dance)–and thinking “this is a woman who could kick holes in plate steel”. A bit of hyperbole, perhaps, but probably not by much.
My exposure to (and expanding appreciation of) dance shaped my concept of “fitness”. And my training in (and execution of) “dance lighting” created an aesthetic that would come back to me decades later when I picked up my camera to shoot models.
The lighting in theatre is highly stylized. Dance takes it even farther. The lighting in dance is designed to highlight the shape of the body–often at the expense of seeing the face. And the scenery isn’t even given a 2nd thought[1].
When I first started working with “model-based” photography (rather than shooting theatrical sets and performances), I set up “proper” lighting. The models were well lit, but it was rather boring. I’m not sure what triggered the thought, but one day I threw “correct” lighting out the window and shot a model using “dance” lighting. The results were fantastic.
Model = Marksman
Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to work with several fitness models–or models who are very athletic. My style of lighting is both extremely flattering and extremely unforgiving. For an athletic model, the harsh lighting highlights and accentuates muscle tone and the shape of the body. Traditional lighting–designed to show a person’s face–de-emphasizes musculature. You can see the whole body very well, but it gets “smoothed out”.
My approach to fitness photography takes a completely different vector. What’s important is the body–the muscles, the shape, the tone. I’m not interested in the traditional trappings of a “sexy photo”; that’s not what it’s about. I strive to portray athletes as powerful. Power, strength, and the perfection of form are inherently beautiful and sexy.
My approach to fitness photography is very different from the norm. Where traditional photographers seek to portray fitness models as “sexy”, I choose to present them as “powerful”. A woman who can bench press twice her weight, run a marathon, or go 15 rounds in the ring shouldn’t need to put on a bikini and a cheesy smile to be seen as beautiful. A powerful form–male or female–is beautiful.
[1] This is true in most “modern” dance styles. Traditional ballet often tells a story that requires the set to be properly lit.
