Finis: Triangles & Light

by Christopher Duggan

This monthly contribution will highlight an image I’ve made or perhaps an image I love by another photographer. I’ll discuss how I made the image, what the purpose of it was, why I love it or maybe some mistakes I made trying to make it. I’m always open to questions, comments and ideas.

Let’s begin with an image I simply love. It’s Crystal Pite’s Kidd Pivot from the company’s performance of Dark Matters this summer at Jacob’s Pillow. I’m drawn to the dramatic light and the triangles. The shadow, the symmetry, the muscles in his legs. It’s a beautiful moment. He looks so still.

This image was shot during a dress rehearsal. I had never seen the piece before, and the lighting during this section of the dance was very challenging, harsh and moving. The light over his head was on stage and wheeled around by another dancer. During this section, I took lots of frames, just trying to be sure I captured something. What I appreciate most about this image stems from what I saw when I watched the performance from the audience two days later. I realized that this was made in a fleeting moment. There was never a repeat of the light, the movement or the placement of this dancer on the stage. There was only one moment like this, and as an audience member, you may not even recognize it from the show. The light was traveling to the left and the dancer was either moving up or down. It was a true “caught” moment.

I love that.

Please leave a comment here or send you questions to studio@christopherduggan.com. I’d be delighted to know what you think.

Contributor Christopher Duggan is the founder and principal photographer of Christopher Duggan Photography, a New York City-based wedding and dance photography studio. Duggan has been the Festival Photographer for Jacob’s Pillow Dance since 2006. In this capacity, and as a respected New York dance photographer, he has worked with renowned choreographers and performers of international acclaim as well as upstarts in the city’s diverse performance scene. Duggan often teams up with his talented wife and Pillow videographer Nel Shelby. A husband and wife dance documentation team, they are equipped to document performances, create and edit marketing videos and choreography reels, and much more. Visit Christopher online at www.christopherduggan.com.