Introduction: How the book was created

Dreaming When you dream, your daily life shines.
Loving Love is moving to one rhythm
When I play , the world dances along.
Exploring Without adventure, life is dead.
Grieving is a pause, not the end.
Working is the rhythmic movement that wakes us up every day.
Even the shaking of life is a dance

About the Photographs How a Photograph is Made
About the Technique Techniques used in photography
Acknowledgments People I am grateful for

A New York Times Bestseller! A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2012!
A book that has caught the attention of news outlets, newspapers, magazines, and bloggers around the world!

A dancer and photographer who jumped into the heart of life
A woman in a red coat, holding a red umbrella, lightly jumps into the air on a rainy street.
The striking photo on the book's cover became famous among bloggers around the world long before the book was published.
This work, which was one of the photos of dancers posted on the personal homepage of photographer Jordan Matter, was published on the 'Photo of the Day' blog of a world-renowned photography magazine, and began to be introduced in various news, magazines, and blogs.

What started as promotional photos of dancers in 2009 evolved into “photos of dancers dancing in everyday clothes in common environments around us,” and people became enthusiastic about the photos, which were honestly created using only the dancers’ bodies, without the help of trampolines or Photoshop.
This photo book, compiled from these photographs and published in 2012, became an instant bestseller and was even named one of Barnes & Noble's "Best Books of the Year."
The photos, categorized under seven keywords: Dreaming, Loving, Playing, Exploring, Grieving, Working, and Living, have the power to make us reflect on our lives.


Dreaming: Everyday Life Shines When You Dream
〈When the performance ends, the stage of life begins〉.
A man in a T-shirt mopping the stage floor in front of an empty audience.
After the performance, the audience has all gone home, but the man is flying beautifully through the air as if his stage is just beginning.
Although no one is watching, the lights on all sides brightly illuminate the stage as if cheering.

This photo reminds us of aspiring actors who take on odd jobs while dreaming of a bright future on Broadway or Daehangno.
It also reminds us of our past, where we silently endure the harsh reality to realize our dreams, or have endured it.

In addition, Dreaming includes “Light as a Cloud,” where a dancer floats above a field of flowers; “First Night of the Show,” where a dancer dances in the rainy front yard of a performance hall; and “The Best Stage,” where a dancer plays guitar on a Hollywood night street.


Loving: Love is moving to one rhythm
It's never too late to date.
Veterans of the theater and dance worlds, Carmen de Lavallade and Gus Solomons Jr., present heartwarming performances rather than the flashy virtuosity of the younger dancers in other photos.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, an elderly couple leaning on each other conveys a simple beauty.

Not all the love in this photo album is as gentle as this work.
In "She Said 'Yes'", the joy and excitement of a love that has just begun are conveyed, and in "Days of Love Are Not Always Beautiful", the ambivalent feelings of love and hate are conveyed, presenting the various aspects of love.

Playing: When I Have Fun, the World Dances with Me
〈Caffeine-filled〉.
“The moment I saw the enormous size of the drink, which I could buy as much as I wanted for a penny, I pictured a dancer in a state of hyperactivity from caffeine overdose.”
As the author tells the story behind the photoshoot, this photo captures a dancer expressing uncontrollable excitement with her whole body.
The dancer, floating in the air wearing a hot pink T-shirt as if trying to express the burning passion inside her, epitomizes the vitality of life.

In addition, Playing features scenes of people enjoying various pleasures of the world, such as a man heading to the ocean to enjoy surfing, a woman cheering at a baseball diamond, a busker playing the accordion on the street, a gambler borrowing money in Las Vegas, and a woman reminiscing about her childhood on a carousel.


Exploring: Without adventure, life is dead.
“Travel is about putting down the burdens of the world and carrying a backpack.”
A man who just got off the subway and runs to an unfamiliar place, excited with anticipation.
The backpack hanging on the back looks quite heavy, but the traveler's steps are light.
Because that's nothing compared to the weight of everyday life.

The author, who went on a rare family trip, stumbles upon a dance studio in Montreal, Canada, and goes back into work mode.
This photo was born that way, but the author's young son fell asleep on the platform floor while the dancer jumped seventy times over forty minutes.

Exploring is unusually full of photos of people taking risks.
“Looking Upside Down,” which could be titled “Would You Risk Your Life for Me?”; “Space Station Gas Station, But We Don’t Serve Spaceship Fuel,” in which a dancer leaps from a brick wall to a height of five meters above the ground; and “View,” in which a dancer stands on one foot with her arms outstretched on a narrow wall 30 meters high, all show what true adventure is.


Grieving: Grief is a pause, not an end.
“Mom! How much did you spend this month?”
A woman leans against the top of a hallway so narrow it almost induces claustrophobia.
She looks down at a piece of paper that appears to be a credit card statement with a look of despair.
Below, the baby sits on what appears to be a credit card statement, looking at it like his mother.
I think everyone has experienced the scene of receiving various bills and worrying about them at the end of the month at least once.
The dancer in this photo is said to have created a wonderful piece with her young son, even though she had just given birth.

In addition, the ending of 'One More Drink' depicts a drunkard suffering with his face buried in a toilet, the horror situation depicts a woman being chased by a strange man in a deserted parking lot, and the mourner longing for the dead in a grave in 'People Become Longings When They Die'.


Working: The rhythmic movement that wakes us up every day.
〈The moment when someone's daily life meets someone else's life〉.
A man in scrubs is seen floating in the air, using a defibrillator to treat the chest of a patient lying in an emergency room bed.
The author reportedly asked the dancer to jump high over the patient's body to make him look like a guardian angel, even though he thought it was impossible.
The dancer did a great job of meeting the demand.

Working reflects the daily lives of ordinary people living in the workplace.
It includes “Drink Time,” where four dancers transform into mud-covered workers at an oil refinery; “Setting a New 100-Meter Run Record to Work,” where a man crosses a Broadway crosswalk while looking at his watch as if he is running late for a meeting; and “Sometimes Work Makes You Feel the Blood Flow Back,” where an employee does a handstand in an office during the middle of a shift.


Living: Even the ups and downs of life are a dance
〈Tomorrow's champion is decided today〉.
A woman in tracksuit is floating in the air as if running on a railroad track.
After that, a train with its lights on comes running.
This photo, reminiscent of an athlete in arduous training, was taken at the risk of the dancer being hit by a train.

The adventure continued during the shooting of other photos featured in Living.
Stories as exciting as the photos are introduced in the later section, “How a Photo is Made,” including “Sitting Upside Down,” where B-boy Kim Min-seong caught the attention of a park security guard by doing twelve somersaults; “Reading with Bending Arms,” where he avoided the surveillance of Barnes & Noble security guards and dared to take pictures; “From the City to the West,” where he caused several conflicts by violating the precautions of the bayonet exhibition; and “Emptying is More Important than Filling,” where he took pictures and quickly ran away to avoid being dragged away by the police.