RIAN COPE

120 Steps

A Medium Format Black & White Photo Series

120 Steps is an intimate black and white project exploring the physical and emotional language of dance through one woman’s journey. The subject, Piper, is an Australian dancer living in Paris, whose commitment to her craft extends far beyond the stage. This project focuses not on performance, but on the person behind it—how she prepares, protects, and processes her identity as an artist in a world that often reduces dancers to spectacle.

Shot entirely on 120mm medium format film, the series embraces the slowness and intention of analog photography. 

The title, 120 Steps, references both the physical rhythm of her daily movement and the format of film that captures it. This dual meaning ties the artist to the process—an evolving dance between subject and photographer, between motion and stillness.