Statement of Intent
Event photography – SOAR
This project brings together a representational cross-section of Azzopardi’s work in dance photography, and comprises striking images of the precision and power of the human body & anatomy. For this panel the images have been collected into a series that together transcend any one fixed single image; each group of works becomes a resonant field of forms and figures, forming shifting sculptures of form, anatomy and design. This presentation of Azzopardi’s work brings a fresh perspective from a medical doctor’s trained eye in anatomy analysing on dance & photography to capture the decisive moment, that most elusive yet intriguing of photographic subjects – human anatomy in motion. Capturing the graceful forms of dancers in flight by chiselling a moment in time into an impactful sculpture, Azzopardi’s photographs reveal what the human eye cannot see.
There is a minimalist grandeur to a Charles Paul Azzopardi photograph that weds technical mastery with a more loose and lyrical expressiveness. Shooting dance, live (none of these were posed or shot during rehearsal settings) is akin to shooting a sport, in near complete enshrouding darkness, at ISO 12,800, without knowing the rules of the sport. So many sharply-detailed small moments that resonate as sturdy, spellbound and suggestive. Amazingly, these images were captured very early in his artistic development as a visual artist in the medium of photography, with basic analogue & digital equipment. Throughout this project, Azzopardi spent time touring with several international and local dance companies, while paying close attention to the meaningful principles behind visual black and white aesthetics. The clarity achieved is through stillness and solitude. The appeal to the unadorned natural order that inspires a more profound appreciation for beauty.
Moreover, what has always marked Azzopardi’s photographs is their painterly quality – his scenes have an expressive purity and a self-contained life of their own. Azzopardi is leading the viewer to a keener appreciation of the transformative opportunity still radiant in the world – not just all that endures and is timeless – but the evanescent, transitory moments that are here for a startling instant and then gone forever… except when they remain frozen and wondrous, in Azzopardi’s evocative prints.