Dancer: Delia Mathews
Last year I was kindly invited once again by the Birmingham Royal Ballet company to photograph the imagery for their upcoming 2019/ 2020 program. The three ballets I got to create for were - Swan Lake, Giselle, and Don Quixote.
It was an absolute pleasure working with the BRB team again and to work with a company that celebrates diversity. Thank you BRB team for inspiring us all!
The resulting imagery is something I’m so excited to share with you!
Big thanks go to my team for their hard work!
Hair and Makeup: Branka Vorkapic
Assistance: Indy Sagoo & Ken Yu
Lighting: Wayne Lennon
Skin retouching: Solstice Retouch
GEAR USED
For these shoots I used the Phase One IQ3 100MP Trichromatic
medium format camera system and Profoto lights.
Dancer: Delia Mathews
SWAN LAKE
Deep in the gardens of Winterbourne House a white swan nestled peacefully. Swan Lake, a story of about a princess called Odette trapped in a spell by a wicked sorcerer. She spends her days as a swan swimming on a lake and her nights in her beautiful human form.
Swan Lake was Tchaikovsky's first ballet. It was composed in 1875 and over 100 years later it still mesmerises with its tragic storyline and imagery. It’s been a favourite of mine since I was a child and to have the opportunity to capture the promotional images for it was nothing short of an honour!
Dancer: Delia Mathews
Our model for this shoot was principal dancer Delia Mathews who plays both Odette and Odile (the black swan) in the ballet. The sharp eyed among you may recognise her from my Beauty and the Beast shoot last year.
Dancer: Delia Mathews
This shoot was particular challenging as it was possibly one of the wettest shoots I’ve experienced. The rain did not let up all day, and by the time we set out to capture our images the light was beginning to fade. However I thrive in challenge and was thankful for my strong team that had my back and even more importantly, thankful for a client that believed in my vision and ability to deliver. The conditions that day tested all of us, but it was exactly this damp, wet weather that allowed us to capture the moodiness and mystical atmosphere that I was striving for this Swan Lake shoot.
We placed plastic sheeting under the model to protect her and the costumes from damage. We spent time setting up so that when it was time to shoot all that was left was getting Delia in position. The gloomy light and rain created beautiful color tones that were enjoyable for me to work with and enhance in post production.
To view the images in better detail, simply click on them to open in lightbox.
GISELLE
Giselle is a ballet that tells the tragic, romantic story of a beautiful young peasant girl who falls for the flirtations of the deceitful and disguised nobleman Albrecht. When the ruse is revealed, the fragile Giselle dies of heartbreak, and Albrecht must face the otherworldly consequences of his careless seduction.
The characters here are brought to life by principal dancers Momoko Hirata and César Morales.
Dancer: Momoko Hirata
Shot again in the gardens at Winterbourne House, the day after our Swan Lake shoot. For this shoot the part of the garden that felt magical to me was a little sunken area that had steps and offered this beautifully framed shot, almost as if the characters were in a magical glen.
Dancers: Cesar Morales & Momoko Hirata
We had fun adding flowers to the scene and spent time crafting the lighting to pick up all the details form the the wet nature that still glistened after the rains the day before. We wanted to create a magical moment deep in a valley where our two characters could be engrossed in their own little world.
For the color toning I explored cool desaturated tones to evoke the moodiness of this story and ghostly nature of Giselle’s character.
Dancers: Cesar Morales & Momoko Hirata
Click on each image to view it larger!
Behind the scenes
BTS photography by Pratik Naik / Solstice Retouch
DON QUIXOTE
The Don Quixote ballet production introduces us to Cervantes’ famous knight himself, lovers Kitri and Basilio, and a host of supporting characters. As the Don sets out on a quest to track down his true love, with his loyal friend and servant Sancho Panza at his side, he finds himself embroiled in an unlikely adventure of love and dreams.
Dancers: Tyrone Singleton & Celine Gittens
For the Don Quixote brief, I was asked to create bright warm toned images that captures the vibrant characters and setting of this story. We shot these in a studio where it was easier, and safer, for the dancers to jump and create dynamic shapes. I added the backgrounds in post production.
Dancer: Celine Gittens
Thank you to the team at Birmingham Royal Ballet for working with me to bring these stories to life. It was an honour to create with you all once again!
