"Dance Me To The End Of Love" Photo

Photographer’s Note

even though the title may be a bit misleading, for the most part this image is about global warming.
I digress, but for Canadians the favourite activity for October isn't hockey, it's dancing tango on the beach, that's what we do in our leisure time, nothing unusual. What's weird is the weather we had pretty much for the whole month, almost every day over 20 celcius (usually much colder this time of the year), today for the first time it was much colder, despite bright sun the temperature fell close to 0 degrees and we had hail (thought hail should happen in spring or summer). The multilated thingy you see in the foreground (although I reconise it's difficult to recognise) it's a dead bird, not going to blame his death on global warming, think poor birdie just died for no particular reason, or maybe it was lonely and died of jelousy seeing the couple so happy, who knows.

good ol Leonard Cohen always comes in handy in such situations.

"Dance Me To The End Of Love"

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Merline, Alyx, nicoz, luisafonso, broglia, prezntime, jpinkham, eleparc trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

Luciano75 (0) 2007-10-28 20:34

Hello Peter

Cold and sunny,but their ejoying the dancing.
Special moment captured.If it`s about the global warming,the problem is all over the world.Same weather in Romania too.These days was too sunny days,a bit cold,but sunny.

Regards,
Lucian

livinitout (938) 2007-10-28 20:48

That's a great song and I haven't heard it in a really long time.

It's an interesting picture. I can't really make out the thing at the bottom but it looks a bit murky and gray in mood. i really like the shadows around the edges from the sun ray. Well captured shot. Very artistic.
Jacek

Alyx (563) 2007-10-28 20:56

Hi Peter,
Nice picture. Singular composition but appreciable. I like your shot in silhouette and the POV. Interesting picture. Thank you for sharing. Regards. Elise.

rowanb (864) 2007-10-28 20:57

great shot, love and death in the same frame.

Polonaise (5638) 2007-10-28 21:16

Yep...
The Canadian favorite of all times...
Dancing to the end of life on the sandy beaches of lake Ontario...
And taking pictures (God willing) - if the time allows - of these dancers on the beaches...
Are they better in dancing or are they in taking photos - it's up to the rest of the world to judge...
I'd like to say - they are just about excellent in both...
Drinking beer comes in third...
---------------
Most charming as much as delicate - piece of good photography.
It's the sun or is it her dress...???
One thing for sure:
Homerhomer wouldn't be Homerhomer without that dead thing right in front of our eyes...Would he ?

-------------------
Do I have to share the city with such weirdo ?
Most likeable weirdo, still...Weirdo !

I'm done...
G'night...
jerzo...

nicoz (1963) 2007-10-29 3:04

Hi Peter,
Global warming hits the news everyday here, in the UK. Anyway, I digress, your photo is awesome. It's almost hard to believe that it's not been staged! I suppose that surrealist is the word here.
The flare is the cherry on the cake!
Nicolas

Furachan (0) 2007-10-29 3:05

Outstanding work, Peter, realy, truly moving. The juxatposition of the lovers North of the frame and the dead birth South...OUCH! Firthermore the flare seems to be just in the right place and adds something mystical to an already heavy-laden scene.
BRAVO!
Francis
ps. And you say your pictures are "simple"...???

luisafonso (858) 2007-10-29 4:08

I like the greenish tones here. It reminds me a Polaroid in 35mm format... The compo passes the message present in your note. I guess that says it all bout the success of this one. I like it.

Luko (13894) 2007-10-29 6:06

Ok. 100% Homerhomer.

The fragile gender cannot be insensitive to your overwhelming charm. Many of your pictures are weird but you really know how to dig the weirdest out : "For our first meeting, let me offer you a dance and a dead seagull, my luv... How nice is your greenish carnation and your fake glass eye. May I expect to polish its flare sometimes?".

I only miss a musical background to plainly illustrate the atmosphere. I would see a old grammophone playing "cheek to cheek" on a decayed vynil.

"....But I dont enjoy it half as much
as dancing cheek to chee... krrr...
...cing cheek to chee... krrr...
...cing cheek to chee... krrr..."

... at least the dog, he likes dead birds.

ALSOM (6616) 2007-10-29 8:47

The first song that came to my mind when viewing this photo with the small silhouette in the bg was "Save the last dance with me", I love that song, not the one sang by Dolly Parton nor recently by Michael Buble but rather by the Drifter hehheeh !

There is a wonderful feeling from this photo, excellent dof, the fg really helps to jump to the busy background. The flare adds this nostalgia effect making overall picture oldish-souvenir ...

It should not be easy to dance tango on the sand ;o ))).

Excellent, really love it.
Thanks.
Alain -

bwiti (402) 2007-10-29 14:22

What a beautiful composition! There is something magic in this one...like a dream... a sweet dream... desire to be this man a moment... desire to see the sun going to bed seat next to this corpse and then returning at home simply... Congratulations for this one...

broglia (3349) 2007-10-29 14:30

Hey Peter, maybe the poor bird was trampled to death by all those tangoing Canadians! Love the little touch of lens flare and the long shadows. The low sun through the womans dress is a nice touch too. Best regards, Roberto

prezntime (3945) 2007-10-30 18:53

If that aint love...

If I may get a little excessive...I imagine the very distant figure somehow as childhood; the dance, middle age; the bird...no longer flying. That greenish tint, the surreal polaroid quality of a snapshot...but with that other nagging feeling coming through...absurdity.

AB.SURD. "Opposed to manifest reason or truth; irrational; preposterous; ridiculous."

Chris

jpinkham (848) 2007-11-02 20:51

Hmm, Peter. Despite the background exposure and the seeming artifact, there's still something very engaging about this image. I like the composition with the long foreground, the couple's placement off to the right, the light in the dress and the perspective of that other man in the distance. So that is a dead bird you've favored us with in the near foreground -- I wondered. Dying of jealousy, huh? Quite an image for October, but then it was one of the warmest in memory here, too. Glad you posted it.

eleparc (24059) 2007-11-06 7:47

Poor bird! He must have died of a heart attack for not finding the right partner to dance... or maybe died of shame because he cannot tango? the slight tilt adds to the tango feel! even though a mournful march might be moire adequate with respect to the poor birdy! or some Jazz?

Merline (6578) 2007-11-30 6:25

Hello Peter,
one of my favourite songs ever, and artist too...

This image has something magic in it, that diffused light, the dead bird, the two happy people dancing and their shadow, the flare of the sun, what a nice idea to do that on a beach,didn't know this...

I like the way you linked this to the global warming problem that concerns us all...Well, it's a very interesting shot, a delightful one to me.!

TFS
Michèle