Birthday photo shoot: the results!
They’re in! Yesterday I received my disc with the photos I selected from my shoot. Can I just say how much Knottie Pictures rocks? They were fun and professional to work with, had a really quick turnaround time on everything, great quality photos – and a really nice disc with a custom label and icon and a fancy case. (The little things like that really add to professionalism, in my opinion.) I definitely recommend them!
Here are three photos from the final set. I’ve put all of them on Flickr, set to “friends only.” I might make them public later, I haven’t decided yet… I’ll just have to decide how comfortable I feel about anybody and everybody having access to them. Anyway, I sent a guest pass to a few folks who aren’t on Flickr, but if you aren’t on there and want to see the full set, comment or email me and I will send you a guest pass as well (unless you’re creepy!).
I’m really glad we found the little purple “I’m Scared” guy. Ever since I saw this photo of him I knew I’d want to try to track him down when we got there. He was in a room off of the hallway where the solitary confinement cells were – so creepy that we almost didn’t go in there.
The final word on my photo shoot? “Yay!” :)
Portrait of an artiste
Yesterday was my birthday photo shoot (as mentioned here), and it was an amazing experience. THANK YOU to Bryant and Sadie for being so professional, fun, organized, and making me feel comfortable and relaxed – at least, as relaxed as possible when half-naked inside an abandoned prison!
Yes, we did the shoot at the old Atlanta Prison Farm. There’s an entire Flickr group for the place – 788 photos and counting – and apparently it’s kind of passé among “serious” urban explorers. But screw those pretentious people! It’s a really cool place and it was exactly the sort of thing I had in mind for a location.
Info about the prison:
Inmates at this facility, who served sentences for ordinance and traffic offenses, were routinely assigned to farming, livestock, cannery and dairy operation details. This enabled the detainees to benefit from vocational training and contribute to their sustenance. The 77-year old prison farm, though effective in the past, became too inefficient to manage the change in the detainee population and was consequently closed forever in 1985. (Note: I read another source that says it closed in 1995. Not sure which is true.)
The shoot took three hours and we went to several different areas of the prison. I managed to incorporate three different outfits – or really three and a half, as one was a last-minute partial switcharound. It was definitely a weird feeling changing in the middle of a big open former prison cafeteria, for example; even though I knew the place was deserted I felt very “exposed.” I got over it pretty quickly, though.
Walking around in heels was also not easy, because there was so much debris and because one of the pairs of shoes I brought is a pair I can barely walk in under normal circumstances. I didn’t bring my old reliable chunky black stripper heels because I actually dance in them at least once a week, and I didn’t want to mess them up. I don’t think the other shoes had any permanent damage done (just a lot of dirt!), but I didn’t want to take any chances. I know it sounds really cliché and possibly annoying, but standing around in heels for several hours isn’t easy. I now have a very real appreciation for how this sort of thing is not just standing around. I also had to contort myself into some positions that felt weird, stupid, or awkward, but hopefully they’ll turn out looking good! I know that a lot of things have to be exaggerated for photography.
Also, make-up looks cool but is a pain in the ass! Thank goodness Sadie was there to do mine, otherwise I don’t know what I would have done. I just do not know how to apply make-up other than your basic eyeshadow-and-lipstick routine, and even then only if I’m really under duress. I liked the way it looked yesterday – although it did feel a little weird and “not me,” but again, I know it has to be exaggerated for the photographs – but if I had to do that every day I would lose my mind. I just don’t have the patience. But as I’ve said before, my not wearing make-up is simply because I don’t want to; it’s not some kind of political statement. I hate that I feel compelled to say that, but there it is!
I got a few mosquito bites and almost touched some poison ivy, but hey, all in the name of art. And naturally I made the requisite quip about how my stripper name is Poison Ivy.
What else… really, I don’t know what else to say. It was just a really positive (and tiring!) experience, I’m glad I did it, and I can’t wait to see the results! Maybe if I’m happy with the way they turn out I’ll try to do actual modeling gigs… I don’t know, I guess I’m getting ahead of myself; I’ll have to decide later. But it was – dare I say it?? – empowering for me!
Not sure if I will post the final 15 shots that I choose online, or what. I’ll probably post at least one. Stay tuned.
Oh, and next time? We’ve gotta do a shoot at the old shower door warehouse – check it out, they have poles!
Quote of the day
From Glamourpuss at The Pole Affair:
What I see now but perhaps did not recognise then, was the innate confidence pole dancing gave me. Mastering a difficult skill that requires strength, flexibility, stamina and co-ordination cannot fail to strengthen your bond with and your trust in your own body, and that empowered me.
New pole video
We finished yet another session of Level 6 (previously called Level 5/6) today. Here’s my performance! I don’t think it’s my best, but then, I’m my own worst critic. I still haven’t gotten over the extra nervousness when I know I’m being recorded; maybe one day I’ll be able to forget about the camera completely.
Sorry it’s a little dark and grainy… but I would rather have a slightly lower quality video than dance under insanely bright lights!
New moves in this video: The hangman (still photo below the video, courtesy of Liz a.k.a. Carmen Elantra!) and the lotus.
The photo is much better quality than the video, so maybe next time I'll go back to just doing photos. I don't get nearly as nervous with still photos.
Burlesque pole!
Quickly, before I go to bed… here it is, my burlesque pole performance!
Our latest eight-week session of Level 5/6 at PoleLaTeaz focused on burlesque. I found it very challenging, but overall a good kind of challenge. This is the routine I put together for the end of this session. It features less pole work than usual, and more theatrics.
If the embedded video doesn’t work, go here.
Another video!
In an attempt to try to distract myself from my itchy typing fingers re: this thread (and this one, and this one, good god), I’m posting the pole video I made last night.
Last night on a whim I decided to make another video. I was still feeling kind of self-conscious about my Monday night video, and wanted to try again. I still felt the effects of my space limitations, but overall I think I did a better job in this video than the previous one. I didn’t quite nail the one-legged parachute -> two-legged chair -> fairy (legs weren’t controlled enough), but there’s always next time!
Rusty says the light blue works for me.
Oh, and I thought I shouldn’t have to say it, but as of a few minutes ago I’ve been proven wrong, so: unsolicited advice is not welcome!
More blogging tonight, hopefully.
New pole dancing video
I made this video Monday night… I’ll just paste in the description I wrote on the blip.tv page:
On April 21, we had a recital for the end of the current Level 5/6 session. (I think this is the third one I’ve been in? I’ve lost count.) I thought about recording my performance, but decided against it because I couldn’t get the lighting right and was still getting over being sick, so I didn’t want the pressure. But I felt like I did really well in my performance, and I had a really cute outfit, so when I came home I was inspired to make a new video. So here I am, dancing to PJ Harvey’s “Sheela-Na-Gig,” which is also the song I danced to for my Level 3 graduation.
Please excuse the noise from me sliding on the pole and my feet slamming down on the stage. I had the music up as loud as it would go, but I should’ve put the iPod dock closer to the camera. That song is one of those really quiet songs… you know, where no matter how high the volume is, for some reason it’s still lower than other songs.
The extraneous noise annoys me, but all in all, I think this video turned out way better than my first attempt at dancing to a full song with my home set-up!
(Oh, and there’s a little bit of Mary J. Blige at the end, complete with a little booty-shaking…)
Be gentle…!
The rest of the story
Dacia’s year-end wrap-up article for Eden Fantasys, Ten Hot Sexuality (And Gender) Issues of 2007, is a seriously awesome piece of writing that everyone should read. It includes a quote from me about pole dancing, but since she had to cover a lot of stuff in the article, obviously she couldn’t put in everything I said. Here are my full answers to all the questions she asked me; I’m posting them because I feel like I actually sounded smart and stuff.
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What initially drew you to pole dancing?
One day in June of 2006 I was sitting around my apartment, and I have no idea what made this thought come into my head, but suddenly I thought, “Hmm, I wonder if there are any pole dancing classes in Atlanta?” So I Googled it and found out that yes, there were!
But really, it wasn’t something that was completely out of the blue. Ever since I was in college, I had been toying with the idea of working as a stripper. I always found some way to talk myself out of it – the two biggies being that I couldn’t dance and couldn’t walk in heels. While those two things were true, they could have been overcome; the deeper truth was that I was afraid everyone would laugh at me. When I made the decision to start pole dancing classes, I was choosing, finally, to confront those deep-seated fears.
On less of a “self-help and personal growth” note, I’ve always hated working out and I’ve never stepped foot in a gym, so I figured it would be a fun way to get in shape.
Do you see pole dancing as a sexual thing? why/why not?
Yes and no. For me, there is a sexual component, but the whole of the activity is not sexual. What’s most important to me about pole dancing is that through it, I’ve been able to confront some very old fears about performance, athletic ability, and the possibility of being humiliated. My pole dancing classes are not the same as 8th grade gym class – and that’s something I needed to experience. In the same vein, pole dancing has been very empowering for me because it’s the first athletic activity I’ve ever excelled at. It feels very rewarding to see myself improve over time, to be in control of my body and feel myself grow physically stronger.
I want to be very clear, though, that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with pole dancing as an overtly sexual activity. I don’t like when people feel like they have to come up with some other explanation because the sexual is perceived as “base” or not good enough.
Why do you think people have been getting so bent out of shape about women who are not strippers and don’t intend to become strippers learning and enjoying pole dancing?
It seems like some people just have a mental block against considering the possibility that pole dancing can be anything but objectification of women in the context of a seedy, dangerous strip club. (Note: I do not think this description is accurate for all strip clubs!) It’s as if they’ve bought into a stereotype and refuse to consider any other options. I’m a feminist, so it’s most annoying to me when this behavior comes from other feminists. By sticking to such a rigid perception of what pole dancing means, they’re not doing anything to challenge the dominant cultural messages about it.
If anything, the type of complaint I’d expect to hear would be strippers getting angry at what they might perceive as co-opting, but I haven’t witnessed that happening.
Secret Santa Stripper!
The song my Secret Santa Stripper picked for me to dance to was Nasty Love by Lords of Acid. I had never heard it before, but I like it, and I’ll be downloading it from iTunes!
It was a good night. :)
One year and five garters later
Almost one year ago today, on my 27th birthday, I graduated from Level 1 pole dancing.
Today, on the day before my 28th birthday, I will graduate from Level 5 pole dancing, and get my black garter. From here on out, it’ll be continuing practice in “Level 5/6,” because after tonight I’ll have attained the highest level!
A retrospective of graduations past:
Tonight we have to do a two-song set, and Angela has highly encouraged us to have a theme instead of just randomly choosing two songs. My two songs are Garbage’s “Only Happy When it Rains” and Rihanna’s “Umbrella” – so I call my theme ‘Make it rain.’ Yes, the pun is intended and my tongue is stuck firmly in my cheek. But an effective rain dance is exactly what we need in Georgia right now!
I’ll post photos tonight or tomorrow morning, of course. I feel like I should say something deep, but words are failing me. Just… it’s amazing how much can happen in a year.