Rehearsal Shots from SLAM

Jody Sperling — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:39:46 +0000

Just wanted to share these photos from rehearsal earlier today. I love the contrast between the angelic Rachel Salzman (aerialist) and the gritty SLAM space. David Gonsier took the photos which came out great, despite poor lighting.

Vanessa’s pics from Vassar

Jody Sperling — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:24:23 +0000

During our video shoot at Vassar College last weekend, Vanessa Cheung managed to get some lovely stills with her point-and-shoot camera. It’s quite a challenge to capture this movement with the variable lighting. The motion will tend to blur creating trace forms of the fabric action. This effect, however, can produce ethereal and captivating images. Enjoy!

Bird’s Eye View

Jody Sperling — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:43:44 +0000

Kevin Colton, the official photographer of Hobart & William Smith Colleges, enthusiastically documented Time Lapse Dance’s residency there March 24-27. Once it was over, I ended up with a pile of DVDs containing no less than 3,826 images. Kevin was there for my master class, the company’s technical rehearsal in the theater, our dress rehearsal, and then, still not bored, he mounted his camera on the lighting grid to get overhead shots of the public performance.

The camera had an extreme wide-angle and Kevin sat in the audience with a remote trigger. Unfortunately, the shutter sound was clearly audible, so he was somewhat inhibited from snapping away. Moreover, a chip in his camera was partially corrupted, so only the first two pieces of the program (my solo “Clair de lune” above and “Bang for the Buck” below) were captured. However, the shots he did get were extraordinary. I was especially excited to have this perspective on my work. We’ve got a lot of great photos of repertory, but this was something new.

It’s been making me think a lot about viewpoint. Back in 2006, when developing the mirrored set piece for Roman Sketches with Philip Drew, we had discussed the idea of suspending a large mirror over the stage angled so that it would reveal an overhead vantage point to the viewer.

Other ideas that are lingering: doing a site-specific piece in a sunken auditorium so the audience is above; making a film shot from this angle; expanding this photo essay into an art project in it’s own right, i.e. a book.

One last thought, my favorite overhead film which I will re-do one day:

Jody Sperling Dance Blog » Photography

Rehearsal Shots from SLAM

Vanessa’s pics from Vassar

Bird’s Eye View