Second year photojournalism student at the University of South Wales ; Instagram - photoj_lorna

Jan 2, 2016

Salsa Dancing in a Care Home

On the 12th of October, 2015, I had the privelidge of documenting a group of Salsa dancers volunteering in the care home called ‘Brightside Manor’.

The event was organised by a good friend of mine, Sri Ponnuswamy, who dedicates his life to organising charity run events for disadvantaged people.

Sri Ponnuswamy (second from right, bottom row) with the group of volunteers from Tiger Bay Social Group.

Because of confidentiality issues (not being able to get consent forms from relatives for publication), I wasn’t allowed to photograph any faces of the residents.

This worried me at first, as I the room was quite small and I thought I was going to have a really difficult time getting any photographs at all, but it was all a matter of perspective. I decided to focus on the intimate details. Faces didn’t mean hands.

I was mostly looking for the contrast between the residents and the volunteers, the contast in age, and even skin tone. The more I did this, the easier it got.

The lighting in the room was also beautiful. The party took place in the conservatory, and there was plenty of natural lighting coming through the giant glass doors, adding really nice tones.

Volunteers Maciej Strzesniewski and Rūta Paleckytė dancing in the conservetory.

This is my favourite shot from the event, I felt it portrayed the warmth of the event, and I was really happy to have captured it.