Edition: 2014

We are delighted to feature greyscale at its best. No element is quite black, nor quite white. Perfect. The shot features Lara Foschi and Alessandro Cipolla and was taken in the early hours (Tango Time) of one very warm evening during the Catania Summer Tango Week 2019.

Did we ever mention? Grey is glorious. Grey is beautiful. Grey is good. We love the soft, grainy shades that blend to form the scene we know so well. The contrast throughout the pretty paisley shirt is distinctive, so that the simple background features bring out the shirt’s design guiding the onlooker towards closed eyes and a warm, thoughtful embrace.

We asked Cetti why she chose this image:

There is some feeling. I felt it. The couple in the foreground are like one person, one thought, but also the other couple are in perfect harmony. It was an intense moment.

The camera?

Nikon D3200. Lens 35mm 1.8. Default lights. No flash or additional light. Black and white in post-production.

This is a beautiful example of the ‘classic’ tango photo, shot in the late afternoon light at the Mimos y Tango Encuentro Milonguero in Riva Del Garda, Italy. Dele has captured the dancers, pin sharp in the foreground, as they pause in a moment of intimacy, waiting for the music to move them onwards through the dance. It is our pleasure to feature Dele’s photo on Tangofolly!

We caught up with Dele to hear more:

I took the photo on Sunday, the last day of the weekend, late afternoon and the dancefloor was crowded. I suppose everyone, especially those who are ready to travel back home, were making the most of what was left of the weekend – lots of dancing, long tango goodbye kisses and embraces in between the dancing.

The camera?

Nikon D750 with 55-200mm lens for late afternoon outdoor lighting conditions, and artificial low light indoors with warm colour tone (yellow).

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REFERENCE

Pictured: Silvio Capuano

Photographer’s Album: facebook.com/dele.tangoDJ/media

It is with great pleasure that we feature a very special image taken recently by professional photographer, Thibault Cresp from Paris, France.

This image is special because it’s real. It’s off-the-cuff journalism at its best. We love the raw, grainy, rock style. Its gritty, passionate, provocative and honest. Stage lights deepen the shadows and saturate the musicians faces, bringing out their emotion as they play, focussed on the music they are making together. Pause a moment and breath in the atmosphere. Sepia effects freeze the image forever. A moment in time. And that tattoo… Phew… Tango rocks!

Thibault? What’s the story?

“I was coming from Cafe Vinilo in Buenos Aries. It’s a very nice place with ‘musica en vivo’. I was on my way to Salon Canning for the la Tipica Sans Souci concert with my friend Ralph Nasi who had been invited to DJ that night. We made a quick stop enroute at this casual little milonga located in CIRCE Fábrica de Arte, where we knew el Cachivache was about to play.

We had very little time because I had to be at Salon Canning to record a tango performance. We stayed at the little milonga for the first two songs. I had to run quick, switching on my lens just at the last minute but in time to get a panoramic shot of the whole group on stage. Dancers were all around me, at my back and blocking my view in front of me but, I kept shooting. The band were just starting to warm up and already the mood in the whole place was really welcoming. Fans, dancers and the public were crowded into that little place. The light was perfect.”

Why do you love this shot?

The perfect balance of dynamics between the movement of the musicians as they play together, the seriousness of the bandeonnist with his tattoo and bad boy style with a full view of the bandoneon opened gently like a book. Its the perfect composition that lets the eye travel easily up to the gentle smile of the violinist.

The camera?

Sony A7Riii with a Sony lens 55mm 1,8 et batis 25mm

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REFERENCE

Pictured from left: Vito Venturino (guitar), Adriano De Vita (bandoneon), Bruno Giutini (violin), Pacha Mendes (bass). Out of shot: Pablo Montanelli (piano).

Photographer’s page: Thibault Cresp Photographie

About the band: El Cachivache Tango

This month we feature a lovely example of implied movement photography by the well-known Tango Photographer, Serdar Kaplan from Ankara, Turkey.

The photo was taken at the Sultan’s Tango Festival in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018 and captures the dancer, Ilgın Tetikcan, performing with her partner, Murat Elmadağlı.

Serdar used a Sony A7s with a short telephoto lens to capture the shot.

Serdar? Why this image?

“I like the conflict between the momentum of her blue skirt and the movement of her legs in perfect, gentle form.”

Popping with colour that would brighten any grey February day, this month our feature image is shot by the right honourable Okke VanOudgaarden himself.

Taken on Okke’s trusty old Canon 6D at the first and only Tango Heaven Marathon a few years ago in Dresden, Germany.

Why do we love it? Because it pops!

This month we feature a very special photo and perhaps one of our, all-time favourite photos of ‘tango culture’. A collage of personalities, emotions, expression and positive energy, it is a pleasure to look at each beautiful face in turn. And I am reminded of the joy tango brings.

The performers, Sebastian Achaval and Roxana Suarez, entertain the audience during the Lodz Tango Salon Festival 2015.

The shot was taken by the tango photographer, Elzbieta Petryka, using a Panasonic Lumix DX7 camera.

We asked Elzbieta why she loves this image:

“Artists say that the audience is a co-creator of the overal performance. I sometimes wonder about this statement. Would the performance be different if the audience reacted differently or did not react at all? This photo shows the direct interaction between dancers and audience. Here the audience is no longer just a background.”

Why are the audience laughing?

“I do not know why they laugh. For a moment I thought I should find the recording and check but then I realized that I do not want to know. Let this be a mystery.”

This month we feature the dreamy romantic image taken by Tango Photographer Jacques Thivierge, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The photo was taken at the grand opening of the new location for Studio Tango Montreal on Sunday 20th of September 2015. Jacques used a Canon T5i, Nifty Fifty Lens, Canon 50mm f/1.8 to capture the shot.

In Jacques own words, “I love this picture because of the sensuality and introspection it portray’s, an in-depth mood of powerful connection from which emanates an aura of mysticism, beauty and harmony.”

Its beautiful. Thank you Jacques!

This month we feature a great photograph by Tango Photographer and DJ, Anthony Cronin from Dublin, Ireland.

The photo was taken at Marathon De Chocolat, Brussels in 2013 and shot with a 1997 compact film camera Olympus µ[mju:]-II using fujifilm 200.

We love the movement here! The tanguera’s burst of emotion while the wind sends her hair across her face. If you dance tango you will know that glorious feeling of any burst of fresh air rushing over you as you dance… Overall the image has a real ‘journalism’ ‘editorial’ feel to it. A snap in time. Telling the tango story. Just as it is.