Michal Chelbins delicate portraits seize youngsters in uniform
How to Dance the Waltz is a five-year project that examines the relationship between youth, uniforms and dress code. Photographer Michal Chelbin wanted to undo the heightened traditional gender roles associated with certain uniforms and the performance imposed on them.
As part of the project, Chelbin travels the world to places like military boarding schools in Ukraine, Seville's matador schools and a prom night in Kiev. “I work with groups of people who have something in common,” she says of her process. “If it were a military boarding school, for example, I would contact them in advance to have a time. As soon as I'm there, I introduce myself and my work and start taking portraits. Every portrait session is different, sometimes it takes an hour and sometimes up to three hours. "
All pictures: How to Dance the Waltz by Michal Chelbin, edited by Damiani
Access to these different institutions was the hardest part of the project and being able to match the right topics with the locations. The fresh-faced teenagers and children are often posed formally in their uniforms, looking mature and dignified. But glimmers of her innocence and youth can be seen in the pictures, be it through her beaming facial expressions or when her poses shift to something warmer like hugging or hanging from fitness equipment.
For Chelbin, a good image means “getting the viewer to ask questions instead of getting answers,” and in this series she creates tension between the old glamor often associated with those intricate uniforms and costumes and the obsolete views associated with it, particularly those of women in society. For example, when a young woman is featured on the series, her uniform often reflects a submissive role.
"First and foremost, it's about the contrasts. While a military life or a young matador is associated with violence and cruelty, I find many of them fragile and weak when I meet them," explains the photographer. Professionally regarded, but I found many of them gentle, even feminine. "
That tenderness is something that Chelbin has come across in previous projects like The Black Eye, where she photographed young wrestlers, and Sailboats and Swans, who trap teenagers in juvenile prison. “Although we know that these people have committed crimes or acts of violence and cruelty, they are weak and vulnerable at the same time,” Chelbin reflects. "This human contrast, the ability to be two so different things at the same time, fascinates me."
While Chelbin has traveled extensively for How to Dance the Waltz, the beauty of her images stems from the similarities between the teenagers she captured. The bubbling fear of adolescents and the desire to appear adult are finely captured.
For Chelbin, it's also about how uniforms can only go so far as to mask who we really are. "Even if you get teenagers or people to generally wear uniforms and behave the same way according to social rules, their individuality and uniqueness will eventually come to light."
How to Dance the Waltz by Michal Chelbin and is published by Damiani and now; michalchelbin.com