Backstage: The Photograph, Time and Movement Held Still
It’s all in the timing. How long does a piqué arabesque last? A tenth of a second? A grand jeté at its crest? A balance sur la pointe? Since inventors Lumiere and Edison made their contributions to the art of photography at the turn of the last century, and the current digital world began invading everyone’s privacy, it is still the art of the photographer that determines the worth of a photograph. He is choreographer, artistic and lighting director, technician, artist.
Without photographer Arnold Genthe, and Barbara Morgan how would we know the image of Isadora Duncan or early Martha Graham? Today’s photographers must have access to great dancers or companies. Maurice Seymour shot his photos after a performance by Ballets Russses artists and had to dance himself up and down the theater aisles to keep his subjects awake. For studio stills, he placed a barre behind his black backdrops so his artists could lean or hold on to maintain a balance. Where are these dance treasures of the past? Mostly in dance library archives, although some private collections exist.
Costas Cacaroukas, one of today’s dance photographers in most demand tells us: “Many people are photographers of dancers, but only a few of them are ‘dance photographers.’ If someone does his or her work in a studio, having complete control over lights, background, the angle from which the photograph is taken, the distance between the subject and the camera….everything… that person is a photographer of dancers. They have the luxury of being able to look at what has been shot and, if necessary, ask the dancer to repeat the movements as many times as necessary. Consequently, although you see many studio photos of dancers jumping, you never see a studio photo of them turning or doing beats. Jumps are easy to photograph compared to beats and turns. The dancer is at the service of the photographer.
“Contrary to the studio photographer, the dance photographer is at the service of the dancer and choreographer. These photographs are usually taken during a performance or rehearsal. During a performance, the dance photographer is rooted to a spot, and he or she has no control over anything except for the moment of pushing the shutter button of the camera. There is only one chance to photograph a particular moment, since the dancer will not repeat anything that the photographer does not capture the first time, and hopefully, that critical moment will produce a photograph that is an evocation of the performance.
“The most crucial gift a dance photographer possesses is timing. If a photographer has good timing he will produce good dance photographs, including jumps. If the photographer is lucky enough to possess great timing, he will be able to capture the dancer in a beat or turn and produce an excellent photograph. Great timing is instinctive. It cannot be learned. The gift of timing will allow the photographer, who has never seen a work to nonetheless produce good photos.
“While the average viewer thinks a jump more difficult to capture than a turn or beat, it takes only a few fractions of a second for the hand to press the shutter of the camera. At the crest of the jump, the dancer seems to be suspended in air and in those few seconds there is plenty of time to press the shutter several times and get good pictures even if the dancer is rising or descending.
“On the other hand, a turn takes place in less than a second, turning 360 degrees with only a mini-second during which a photo of the dancer will look good……when the position of the body is flat against the camera. In that mini-second, the photographer must have finished pressing the shutter, not starting to press, but finishing. The same is true for capturing beats, because the legs are together only during a fraction of a second but at other times, apart.
“Since the eye does not see anything that happens in less than 20 seconds, how is one able to photograph that mini-second during which the eye actually does not see? I believe the ability to capture those mini-seconds is not a wholly conscious decision, but instinctive. It is as if the finger pressing the shutter has a will of its own.
“While still photographs are beautiful, the most exciting photos are those that show action. Unlike the taking of photos at sports events where the movement has to be interesting, the dance photographer must seen that the subject adheres to the codified ballet position of the torso, arms head, hands, and even the fingers (as in a correct First Arabesque, which is the preferred position in a photo for a dancer registering for a position or competition). If the classical rules are not part of the choreography, the photo must be what the choreographer intended the pose to be.”
To be continued...