Candice

Candice

This photograph captures one of my students in the final chapter of her life in Noosa, before leaving everything familiar behind to pursue an extraordinary dream. After years of discipline, sacrifice and relentless training, Candice earned a place at the prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy in Russia...a remarkable achievement for a young dancer.

Before she exchanged Noosa’s warmth, ocean and freedom for the cold, demanding and disciplined world of Russian ballet training, we wanted to capture her exactly as she was in that moment: young, free and on the edge of something enormous.

We left the studio behind and took ballet into the landscape she called home. There were no mirrors, no barre and no expectations just movement, fabric, ocean and sky.

For me, this photograph represents the beautiful space between two lives: the girl who worked relentlessly for her dream, and the young dancer brave enough to leave home and live it.