SPANNENBURG.ARTart that matters
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Award-winning monochrome photograph of a male dancer executing a leap over a black SUV on a busy New York City street.

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Award & Recognition

Photographer Arjan Spannenburg accepting the 2016 Dance Photo of the Year award from Leo Spreksel at the CaDance Festival, honoring his work "Jillis in New York."

2017

Dance Photo Award 2016

CaDance festival (by Korzo Theater and Danspubliek)

Arjan Spannenburg

JILLIS IN NEW YORK

"A critically acclaimed monochrome dance photograph, capturing a moment of profound human resilience against the textured backdrop of New York City's thoroughfares."

The Narrative

This work serves as a visceral manifesto on the resilience of human expression within the "concrete jungle." New York City is often defined by its hardness, an unrelenting flow of noise, steel, and anonymity. InJillis in New York, this urban chaos is not merely documented; it is defied. The image captures a moment of pure, triumphant liberation that pierces through the city’s static architecture. The profound impact on the viewer stems from the friction between the raw, heavy reality of the street and the weightless elegance of the dancer. It is an invitation to reclaim one's movement and freedom, even when the environment seeks to frame and confine us.

Visual Analysis

A high-contrast black and white street photograph captured in Manhattan. The central figure, dancer Jillis Roshanali, is suspended mid-air in a powerful grand jeté. His form establishes a sharp, energetic diagonal that cuts across the horizontal lines of a black Chevrolet Suburban and a city bus. The lighting accentuates the gritty texture of his denim attire and the physical tension within his muscles, lending him an appearance of almost vibrating against the static urban backdrop. The absence of colour removes the city's distractions, directing the viewer's attention entirely to the interplay of form, light, and the dramatic contrast between the industrial machinery and the yielding human physique.

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Year

2016

Genres

DanceFreedomComing of Age