Becoming a Dance Photographer: Excitement at a Photocall

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Moody geometry made by people. It's dark, the first thing you see is a symetrical zig-zag shape going upwards, as mirror image like as people can be. It is only after seeing this that you notice two heads, one on each side of the zig zag and another in darkness in the middle.

Geometrie Variable at Sadler’s Wells Sampled, London. (c) Julia-Carolin Zeng and DanceGRiST February 2020. Géométrie Variable is a French dance group consisting of Sadeck Waff Berrabah, Bouzid Ait-Atmane, Ammar Benbouzid, and Kanon Ghetto-Style.

 

Experienced dancers and photojournalists probably don’t get excited about photocalls. For me, it’s a whole new world.

My very first photo call, in November 2019, was at the ice rink in front of the Natural History Museum in Kensington. My objective was to capture The Snowman on ice.

My very first London photocall

I felt a bit intimidated by the other photographers. They all had multiple cameras hanging from their bodies with lenses of different sizes. I’m still shooting on the same camera I learned with. It’s an old Sony Alpha 580 that I inherited from my dad when he got himself a new one. Although I’m planning to upgrade soon, I must say that it has never let me down. It is a great camera to learn photography on without all the fancy fluff that makes photography seem easy.

 

  • The Snowman (an actor in a snowman costume) stands in front of a giant christmas tree. In the background are parts of the outside wall of the Natural History Museum in London with colourful bricks. The snowman wears a brown scarf and hat, streches both arms out as if he is about to give the viewer a hug. He is smiling.
  • The Snowman (an actor in a snowman costume) is ice skating in front of the Natural History Museum in London. Parts of the building with its colourful brick walls are in the picture. The snowman has both arms stretched and is ice skating on his left leg. It almost seems as if he is flying. He wears a brown scarf and hat and a big red nose.
The Snowman at the ice rink at the Natural History Museum, London. (c) Julia-Carolin Zeng and DanceGRiST, 2019.

The second photocall

My second photo call was a few weeks later at the famous Sadler’s Wells, Islington. We had been invited to shoot the dress rehearsal for Sadler’s Wells Sampled. This is a preview-mix of the performances to be seen throughout the year. Again, I felt a bit intimidated when I saw the other photographers setting up their tripods. I hadn’t brought mine (and Carole-my occasional photographic mentor- says she never uses one). All I had in my hand was my little Sony. This turned out to be a blessing. Without a tripod I could move freely to capture the dancers from different perspectives wherever they were on the stage.

It was an exciting feeling. I felt slightly rebellious. To shoot live dance in a large famous theatre is usually not allowed. Every performance lasted around 20 minutes. I spent a total of almost two hours shooting in front of the stage.

Camila Alegre and Ezequiel Lopez during their tango performance at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. He is holding her in front of his chest, her body is turned away from him whereas her face is looking sidewards to allow him to kiss her cheek. She is holding his left hand with her right, her left arm is floating elegantly in the air. Her right leg is twisted around his body. She wears a read, body tight dress, he is wearing a black suit.
Camila Alegre and Ezequiel Lopez during their tango performance at the Sadler's Wells theatre in London. Her body is pressed against his, their faces are meeting each other as if they are about to kiss. Her left leg is stretch backwards, her right is lifted towards his body, allowing for her knee to be shown under a long red dress.
Dancers of the Wayne McGregor Company during their performance of the piece "Living Archive" at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. All five dancers are slightly bend towards the left side of the picture. Their right arms are stretched in the air in an elegant way. There are letters in the background that resemble software coding.
A female dancer of the Wayne McGregor Company during the performance of the piece "Living Archive" at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. The viewer sees her back while she is in a turn. Motion blurr is used in the picture that indicates that she is turning. Her arms are bend and only visibile from shoulder to ellbow, her right leg is lifted in the air with a bend in the knee. She wears a golden jacket that sticks out as a highlight in front of a dark background.
Botis Seva’s company Far From The Norm during their performance of BLKDOG at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. Six dancers stand next to each other, holding each others hands. Their faces are pointing towards the audience. They wear wide grey clothes and hoods.
Three dancers of the French dance group Geometrie Variable at Sadler's Wells Sampled, London. They form geometric figures with their arms. The two dancers in the back hold their arms in vertical position in front of their faces which forms a strong vertical line in the image. You can't see their faces as they're hidden behind the arms. The third dancers kneels below the vertical line of arms. His face is also hidden behind his arms that he is holding up. His ellbows are pointing towards the audience, his hands a grabbing the ellbows of the other two dancers and therefore connecting the arms in the vertical line.
Moody geometry made by people. It's dark, the first thing you see is a symetrical zig-zag shape going upwards, as mirror image like as people can be. It is only after seeing this that you notice two heads, one on each side of the zig zag and another in darkness in the middle.
The European collective La Horde during their jumpstyle performance called To Da Bone at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. Out of a big group, only 8 dancers are in the picture, some of them are hidden behind other dancers. It seems as if they are marching. They are turned with their back towards the viewer. The element that catches the eye are two colourful sports jackets in front of a dark background. One jacked it green and blue, the other shows different tones of violet and pink.
Machine de Cirque during their performance at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. Three of the artists are visibile in the picture. The one on the right is leaning towards the others. The images gives the impression as if they were holding his back preventing him from a fall. Whilst he is juggling pins and having fun, the other two are struggling to hold him. Their facial expressions insinuate a challenging situation.
Two member of the French artist group Machine de Cirque during their performance at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. One is sitting on a drum kit, the other crouches next to him. The crouching artist is holding a pin in his hand that he just caught in the air. Their faces are turned towards the left side of the picture. Their facial expressions seem as if they have just seen a shocking event.
Shree Savani dances a Bharatanatyam solo called Devi at the Sadlers Well's Theatre. She is wearing traditional Indian clothes in green and pink, golden jewelry around her wrist, neck and head and a big white flower in her hair. She crouches in front of a red wall. She facing the audience, her knees are turned outwards. Her right arm is lifted towards her front similar to a military greeting. She has a serious look on her face.
Camila Alegre and Ezequiel Lopez during her tango performance at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. They are dancing closely, his right arm is wrapped around her back. Her red dress is open at the back allowing the viewer to see her whole back and long dark hair in a pony tail. His face is partially visible behind her head. Her right arm is stretched out holding his hand as in a traditional couples dance pose.

Sadler’s Wells Sampled 2020: Géometrie Variable, Camila Alegre & Ezequiel Lopez, Botis Seva, Machine de Cirque, Wayne McGregor Company, Shree Savani, La Horde (from top left to bottom right)

The whole shoot was a challenge. I am not yet accustomed to taking photos in those light conditions, or of shooting different dance styles at so many different speeds. But it also confirmed that I had learned a thing or two about photography.

The third photocall

On a rainy mid-week afternoon at The Coronet Theatre in Notting Hill I attended a Russel Maliphant photocall. (Photocalls take different locations in London.) I liked the rustic charm of the theatre and whilst all the photographers were waiting for some construction workers to remove their tools from the stage, a strange vibe spread through the room. I’m usually an outgoing person and very talkative in a group of strangers, but something told me not to. I didn’t know the other photographers, nor the publications they were shooting for, but it felt as if there was a lot of competition between them and I didn’t want to interfere.

We shot The Space Between by Maliphant. It was going to be very dark in the theatre (even darker than normal) because light reflections were an important part of the show. The person who organised the photocall tried to help, suggesting places where it might be best to shoot. However it was still best to find the right spot myself.

Maliphant and Fouras in The Space Between. Both are facing the viewer but the background and their clothes are so dark that the face are barely visible. Her right arm is stretched backwards towards him. He is grabbing her left hand.
Maliphant and Fouras in The Space Between. Both are dancing closely to each other on the left side of the image, the right side is completely dark. His left arm is stretched over her head. Her right arm is stretched to the side as if she is trying to prevent him from moving forwards. His view is geared towards her face, while she is watching slightly downwards away from the scene.
Maliphant and Fouras in The Space Between. The clearest element in the overall dark picture is the ligth reflection on the floor that seems like a movement of water. He is crouching on the floor, with his view downwards. The viewer can only see his left side. Fouras is dancing behind him. Due to the dark scene, the only visible part of her is her left arm that is stretched towards him.

Maliphant and Fouras in The Space Between.

Shooting dance at a photocall gives a very steep learning curve, even with the theory I’ve learned. Carole says it’s a ‘baptism by fire’ and ‘the only way to really understand dance photography is to understand each dance form so you know what to expect and to shoot as much dance as you can’. I’m up for it!  I’m looking forward to many more opportunities, whether photocalls, studio shots or on-location flashmobs. I’ll learn as I go and share what I know. In so doing I look forward to visiting as many different places as I possibly can.

Category : Dance Journalism, dance photography, Dance photography mentoring
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