Rae Zimmerli

As a photographer and contemporary dancer, I find myself at a crossroads of opposing mediums. Contemporary dance can be technique-based or limitless, it may even be pedestrian movement and the goal is almost always to set process and personal sensation as the goal, not the product. The final product is also usually a live performance, it will inherently flawed, and that is understood within the art form. The photography process is not designed to be enjoyed or reveled in; it comes with strict perfectionist expectations that final product, digital images, should have no flaws. While there are certainly exceptions to these rules in both mediums, the expectation of perfectionism has dominated my experience in the photography world. My work is a conversation between these two battling ideologies, and I find myself negotiating different ways to balance them in each photography series I create. At the crux of it all, I use photography to capture my enduring love of movement.