Rag Doll Photography S. Leigh

As a photographer Stephanie Povey prefers to create images using traditional methods - pin hole, 120 Medium format and 35mm film. Working with an array of different cameras has given Stephanie the chance to experiment and develop her ideas, thus gaining the effects and techniques she now uses throughout her work. The majority of Stephanie's work is rooted in black and white photography, which she finds lends itself to capturing the stark lines of the female figure without further complicating it with colour, allowing the image to communicate it's model in a more concentrated form. Stephanie also favours the black and white process because she relishes the gradual appearance of an unknown image before her eyes.

Stephanie's main inspiration has come from a background of dance and a love of the theatre. Primarily the female physique dominates her photography, the way an individual shows such powerful sexuality. She finds this most evident whilst the person is performing. Over recent years dance has become Stephanie's main focal point, Ballet and Burlesque predominantly. These two forms of performance art have attracted her attention, as she believes both reveal such beauty and elegance, in a restricted, forceful manner. The dancer's routine takes hold of the viewers attention, encapsulating the awareness and interest of the view.

What Stephanie aims for with her photography is to 'imprison' the instant connection between the performer and the atmosphere, and capture it before the moment has passed.