Naperville photographer's project captures 'light inside' dancers during pandemic

The literal light is inside.

One lamp and a strand of those twinkling lights often found inside Mason jars at artsy weddings.

The figurative light is inside, too.

One dancer and the spirit she exudes through her art. One dancer and her movements, alone, away from her teachers, without her peers.

The photographer is outside, adhering to social distancing recommendations in light of the spread of the COVID-19 virus and capturing the challenges dancers are enduring during this time.

"I feel like what I'm doing is showcasing the struggle and bringing joy to the dancers," said Carol J. Graham, a Naperville photographer who launched the Light Inside Dance Project after the stay-at-home order went into effect statewide March 21.

Graham, who is married with kids ages 20, 17 and 14, said it was surreal how quickly things changed from normal to stay-at-home isolation to fight the coronavirus pandemic. As she processed the changes, her creative brain went in a variety of directions.

"You're going, 'Oh my gosh, how can I document this? How can I help people? How can I bring joy to people?'" Graham said. "Your mind really never stops wanting to create. It's really hard to have all these ideas and inspiration inside all the time, and then all the sudden you're in a pandemic and you can't do anything."

Graham has been a photographer for 13 years and typically shoots outdoor, natural-light portraits of graduates, families and dancers. She also runs a newborn photo studio and plans to add a studio for fine-art portraits of dancers after the pandemic eases.

She launched the Light Inside Dance Project to benefit Naperville Helps!, a charitable effort launched by the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Naperville Alliance to collect donations, use them to buy meals from local restaurants and give those meals to hospital workers and first responders.

Graham so far has conducted three photo shoots as part of the project, and is posting a gallery of her work at https://www.carolgrahamphotography.com/ as well as from her Instagram account @cjgphotog with the hashtag #thelightinsidedanceproject. Each dancer receives six to eight photos for free but is asked to donate to Naperville Helps! to support people who are responding most directly to the COVID-19 virus.

Haley Reher, 13, of Naperville, danced for the project Tuesday evening.

With her dad and brother upstairs with the lights off and her mom helping with props, Haley danced for roughly 45 minutes in her living room. She was illuminated only by a lamp and a strand of the twinkly, artsy lights, while Graham snapped photos from outside.

"It can show other dancers that although we're going through a really tough time right now, I personally use dance to escape," Haley said.

Haley has been dancing since she was 2 and typically attends Steps Dance Center in Aurora five days a week. She's using training videos posted online by famous dancers and by teachers at the Steps studio, since the space where she dances with Graham's 14-year-old daughter Morgan is closed for in-person lessons. The videos give a good way to keep moving, but it's not the same, Haley said.

"The frustration is real, but the passion is strong," Graham said about the dancers. "Though some are feeling dark, the light inside each dancer is shining bright."

Graham said she's always loved the look of lights in windows, like the glow of a Christmas tree in winter. But she came up with the idea for Light Inside when she shot her family playing a board game through the window after the stay-at-home order began.

"I am loving the warm, Rembrandt, unusual look of these and have found shooting these to be gratifying both mentally and creatively," Graham said. "I am laughing because I normally shoot closer to sunset, so I am considered a sun chaser. Now I am a moon chaser."