What does one do after retirement from the biomedical research field?
For Chris Schonwalder, the answer is “dance photography”.
Growing up in an environment where the arts were an integral part of his life due to his mother’s influence, what as a young boy was not so interesting – dance, symphony, opera – has transformed into an adult’s passion. And ultimately to his own business: Chris Walt Photography.
With over fifteen years of experience now in his second career, Chris specializes in ballet and has developed a close professional tie with Carolina Ballet, the professional ballet company located in Raleigh, NC where he currently resides. He also photographs for the renowned annual dance events Vail Dance Festival in Colorado and Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts.
Having been a former professional ballet dancer myself I have always admired the patience and keen eye that dance photographers have, so I reached out to Chris to find out more about this unique and niche profession.
Interview with Chris Schonwalder
The traits that make dancers so beautiful are also those that create the challenges in photographing them
‣ What distinguishes photographing dancers compared to still-life objects?
Dancers are performance oriented. Performance is the flow of movement. The beauty of ballet comes from sequences which interpret musical phrases. Yet a still photograph must freeze a moment that translates the beauty of the sequence in the movement. It needs to be very precise and is a cooperative effort between photographer and dancer.
‣What are some of the challenges unique to photographing movement?
Shooting stills with dancers is trying to capture in an image that one moment that represents a flow through positions that “paint” music in the air. Dancers create and feel the harmony of music with the body. The challenge for the photographer is how to show that harmony in a photograph.
Personality is the key to solving how to present and translate the dancer’s flow through a captured moment of 1/500th of a second. The dancer’s facial expression and “body anticipation” can lead the viewer to imagining what came before and what comes next. As a dance photographer, I try to relax my dancers and have them present their unique perspective of the piece or the pose and to show the physical gifts that they’ve worked so hard to refine.
‣Considering the amount of time you’ve spent photographing ballet dancers, you must have learned something about them!
Dancers are perfectionists. They do class for a couple of hours daily to train their bodies to move and hold form as will be required in performance. I like to say they are striving for the perfection they know they will never achieve. Why? Because as they get close to the perfection they seek, that perfection moves farther away. It always does. It goes along with improvement.
Chris Schonwalder Photo Gallery
Balancing photography and dance technique
‣ What are some of the technical issues you need to consider that are specific to photographing stage rehearsals and performances?
I use a fast shutter to freeze action which requires a good lens with a wide aperture. And since stage lighting is not as bright as studio strobes or sunshine, I need high sensitivity in my sensor (digital film). This can create noise or grain which must be dealt with in processing.
Color can also be a problem, as stage lighting is generally tungsten-generated and thus quite warm, or yellow, in appearance. But colored lighting generates mood, so often it would be wrong to adjust to perfect white. For example, the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet is a night scene lit by “moonlight. This is created with soft blue stage lighting and it would be wrong to “correct” white costumes back to pure white in an image which tries to relay the mood of this scene.
Also, as stages are wider than a camera’s normal aspect ratio (width to height) the photographer tends to focus on just one or two dancers rather than the full stage. So the questions arise: How close to shoot? What to frame? Full bodies or close ups? Mid leap or top of kick? And it’s important that we always show only a perfect foot position, pointed and over the box.
‣ Are there any choreographers that you particularly like to photograph?
Of course, Balanchine, who once said “ballet is woman”. His style accentuates extended lines. He chose dancers based on their ability to present drama and emotion in an intelligent and pleasing way. For example, there are hundreds of arabesques and it’s up to me to gauge which one the dancer looks most natural doing.
As far as the other dance genres, Bob Fosse as his choreography incorporates articulation of dancers’ joints, especially arms and fingers, like no one else. Michelle Dorrance for tap; she makes it fun. And several hip hop dancers and choreographers like Little Buck with his incredible athleticism. And Martha Graham, of course. Her choreography encourages the body to move in exaggerated patterns as gravity dictates.
‣ What about favorite roles?
The snake in Ballet X’s Little Prince is one of my many favorite roles to photograph; I love watching how classical dance can integrate into modern.
Also Snow and Coffee in The Nutcracker. The Dying Swan, Firebird, Juliet, the Wilies… the list is quite long.
Lighting is everything
‣ Who are the biggest influences on your photography?
I am totally impressed with stage lighting directors. When shooting performances, I say “The good news is that the lighting is done for me. The bad news is that the lighting is done for me.” Lighting directors know how to cross-light to show the shape and form of the performers; their sense of color and contrast is remarkable.
These are the things I try to recreate when in a studio shoot because photography is all about light. I scout locations for composition and natural light. When I’m in the studio, I plan lighting using a mannequin so there are no complaints about holding a pose!
I also follow what photographers like Howard Schatz and Joe McNally are doing because both are remarkably creative.
‣ What are your future desires for your work?
I am working to present still images of dancers that show motion. We are talking blur here which requires close attention to line, form and color. Using blur I can “depersonalize” a dance image, make it more generic, and thus make it something that can hang in a home or gallery without the identification of a specific dancer. We are talking mood here, and blur can heighten mood by bringing the viewer’s eye into the action. That is what dance photography is all about.
All images in this Interview with Chris Schonwalder © Chris Walt Photography
