Heaven Above Earth Below

• Photographer
  Jari Poulin, United States
• Socials

The Dance/Memory project is a body of work I began developing
in January 2013 and which I continue to develop. The idea that
inspires the series is grounded in my experience as a dancer and
choreographer. Dance is a fleeting art form, which exists most
fully only in the moment it is being performed. When it is over, we
are left with a subjective, partial impressions of the experience
and as time goes on, our memory of a particular performance may
blur and morph until it becomes a single image or series of images
that define our experience. What is it that we remember, how do
we remember it, and why? Those are the questions I am seeking
to answer in this series. Watch a dance performance; wait a week
or two and what do you remember?

This body of work strives to describe the experience of the
memory of dance. It explores how each of us consciously or
unconsciously selects various moments in the dance, visual
images, or emotional subtext to remember long after the dance
performance is over. What is it in dance that matters?

Since I began photographing dancers for this series in 2013, I have
worked with twenty-three dancers in several styles of dance, both
as small groups and soloists. I created a black box theatre in my
studio by borrowing a dance floor and covering the walls on three
sides with black fabric. Some of the dancers brought prepared
works, others improvised movement based on loose themes,
others were given choreographed material. The main objective
was that they "feel" their work and the music and achieve a sense
of performing with the camera as their audience and witness. In
several cases I photographed dancers outside the studio at
performance or rehearsal sites.

• Biography
  Throughout her various bodies of work, Jari often pushes settled visual boundaries to reveal or conceal information in the images. She is interested in how the brain chooses to see, fill in the blanks, and discard visual information as is common in selective memory. As an artist and fine art photographer, Jari’s images are photographically based, but at times she seeks to challenge traditional notions of the photograph by using various combinations of digital and analog processes, as well as mixed media, installation and printmaking techniques such as polymer photogravure and monotypes.
• Awards
  International Color Awards 2022, Fine Art Finalist for "My Garden Dreaming Me" 15th Annual Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, Honorable Mentions in both Fine Art and Portrait categories in the Professional Division. International Photography Awards/Lucie Awards 2019, Honorable Mention for the Senses in Animate series. Neutral Density Magazine, 2019 Honorable Mention for the Senses in Animate series. State of the Art Gallery, 2019 First Place Award in the Photography Show Moscow International Foto Awards, Bronze Award, 2017 for #metoo Portfolio Neutral Density Magazine, Photography Awards, November 2015, 2017,2018 Black & White Magazine Portfolio Award Winner 2015 Merit Award featured work in 2 page spread in issue #110 August 2015 The award was given for the Dance/Memory Portfolio Moscow International Foto Awards, October 2015 Fine Art Portrait: Honorable Mention for the “I Am” Series PX3: Prix de la Photographie, Paris, June 2015 Fine Art Category: Honorable Mention for the Dance/Memory Series, COLOR Magazine Portfolio Contest Winner 2010-11 August 2010 received COLOR Magazine Spotlight Winner in the Portfolio Contest. COLOR Magazine 2011 four-page feature COLOR Magazine Single Image Award Winner 2009-10 February 2010 received a Merit Award from COLOR Magazine for a submission to the Single Image Awards Competition. Photo(s) to appear in Special Edition issue in March 2010. The 7th Pollux Award, 2014, Finalist: Fine Art Professional Category State of the Art Gallery, Ithaca NY Jurors Award given in The Annual Photo Show, March 2012, 2014, 2017 ND Annual Photo Awards 2014 Neutral Density Magazine, Honorable Mention for Dance/Memory Portfolio