This New Web Doc on Dance Photographer Omar Z Robles Will Give You Serious Instagram #Inspo

Chances are, you’ve seen (and “liked”) photographer Omar Z Robles’ beautiful shots of ballet dancers on social media. Rather than clean and tidy studio photos, his work captures dancers (“the ultimate subject,” he says) outside and all over the world, often on vibrant city streets. In Pointe of Focus, a short web documentary from SmugMug Films, director Anton Lorimer goes behind the scenes with Robles during a recent trip to Rio de Janeiro. The doc follows the photographer as he scouts locations in Rio’s historical districts and favelas, and directs local Brazilian dancers through the shoot. And these ballerinas are troopers, leaping over concrete, turning over cobblestones or balancing in rain-soaked pointe shoes to achieve the perfect shot.

“Putting them in an environment that’s familiar, I think it strips away the barrier that comes with a studio or stage, and really shows how exceptional they are,” Robles says about shooting dancers in public spaces. Learn more about this in-demand dance photographer in the nine-minute film below—you’ll be sure to get some major Instagram inspiration!