When Eva Yerbabuena comes to town to perform her famed flamenco dances, one can’t stay at home. She came to Vienna at the beginning of 2007 and she was my assignment. The photographs were destined to be used for a monthly magazine and one made it to the front page. Later in 2007, Yerbabuena was awarded the “Medalla de Andalucía”.

Yerbabuena, born as Eva María Garrido García in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, grew up near Granada, Spain. She starting dancing at the age of 11 and became a professional at the age of 15.

Her moves were mesmerizing. One never knew when the dance would end. She interspersed the very well known energetic dance moves with many slow moments, during which she only used her hands and arms to express her emotions. From the first moment, she was one with the music and the movement. It was a challenge to photograph her because her rapid moves were often too fast for my equipment, while the slow ones did not always express enough energy, even though the tension in her body was tangible in the room.

I decided that I did not only want to show her various positions, which reflect quite well-known flamenco routines, but also her movement. Long exposures turned the fluidity of her body movements nearly into abstract sculptures. The stage light brought a mixture of warmth and eeriness to these shots. The performance last a little over an hour but it took much longer for the energy generated by the artists to drain from the audience, including myself.

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