I’ve been in conversation with Darion Smith, Artistic Director of Janusphere, for a couple of weeks about this shoot. Darion has been excited to be working with a children’s jungle gym for his new piece called KinderPlatz, premiering at IATI Theater’s Performing Arts Marathon (PAM) on July 25th.
When he told me about the concept of course I became just as excited- it’s not every day after all that you get to be a kid again and climb all over a piece of play ground equipment that you had loved as a child!
We weren’t sure whether to go with a low or high key look so we did a little bit of both (no small feat considering we only had the studio space he was using for a total of 3 hours). With the help of his wonderful dancers we switched from black background to white in a matter of minutes and got some fantastic images both ways.
The biggest challenge was the ceiling height of the studio. With only about 11 usable feet many ideas for shots were too vertical to be doable.
Janusphere will perform KinderPlatz, as well as A Dancer’s Life at the IATI Theater’s PAM on July 25th at 7:00 p.m. and July 28th at 3:00 p.m. For more information about performance dates and to purchase tickets, visit januspheredance.com.
Darion had this to say about our shoot… “I love working with Rachel, she is a master of taking your vision to another level. Every time we’ve worked together she has exceeded my expectations by a long shot. The positive reactions to Rachel’s work by others is a testament to her outstanding imagery.” The pleasure was mine, Darion and Janusphere!
