In early 1995 I began experimenting with the use of a wind-blown fabric during studio figure shoots. Mostly I worked in color, and had created some very nice pieces, but I was looking for a darker look. Then, in May 1997, I began a series of pictures that I call “Dark Shadows.” My objective was to do portraiture from a figurative perspective, to incorporate movement and fluidity within the images, and work with a black and white film. I was striving to maintain the essence of the subject’s personality while highlighting the elegance of the figure in motion. To achieve the dark tone that is one of the hallmarks of this series, I used a single 500 watt tungsten light with AGFA Scala 200 film underexposed by one f-stop. The model for this series is Nicole who was really in the mood and danced wonderfully well with the wind-blown white fabric streamer. These are some of the first photos in the “Dark Shadows” series.