christopher duggan

Returning To Jacob’s Pillow

July 2, 2013 by 4dancers

20130619_IO_JamalJackson_Christopher.Duggan_043 — Jamal Jackson

by Christopher Duggan

I’ve been waiting 10 long months for this.

Every year, I am so excited to return to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, to photograph amazing dancers and festival life and settle back in to our cozy cabin in the Berkshires. For the past two summers, I’ve been blogging about the week’s dance performances, students at The School and more.

But it’s always the performances on the outdoor Inside/Out stage that I look forward to most. Inside/Out is one of Jacob’s Pillow’s most celebrated series, offering free outdoor dance performances four nights a week during the festival season, with each show set in the lush scenery of the Berkshire hills. It’s a pleasure and an honor to make photographs that reflect the grandeur of the Inside/Out experience – watching dance atop a mountain, under the open sky. Especially since outdoor dance scenes have been iconic of Jacob’s Pillow since its founding. (You’ve seen John Lindquist’s photos of Ted Shawn & His Men Dancers, right?)

That’s why I chose to highlight Inside/Out during my photographic exhibition at the National Museum of Dance last year.

It’s great to be back! Especially since this season offers such a rich mix of companies – many I know and love and many I get to meet and photograph for the first time. This past week’s Inside/Out shows included dancer and choreographer Hari Krishnan. He was in From the Horse’s Mouth last year, and he’s become a friend of mine, so it was just neat to see him and photograph his company inDance.

20130626_IO_DancesforVariablePopulation_Christopher.Duggan_023 — Dances for Variable Population

We had fantastic weather for all the shows, too. See more of this year’s Pillow blog series here.

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-based dance photographer, he has worked with renowned choreographers and performers of international acclaim as well as upstarts in the city’s diverse performance scene.

Christopher Duggan, Photo by Julia Newman

He has created studio shots of Gallim Dance, Skybetter + Associates and Zvidance, among others, and in 2011 alone, he has photographed WestFest at Cunningham Studios, Dance From the Heart for Dancers Responding to Aids, The Gotham Dance Festival at The Joyce Theater, and assisted Nel Shelby Productions in filming Vail International Dance Festival.

Duggan often teams up with his talented wife and Pillow videographer Nel Shelby (http://nelshelby.com). A New York City-based husband and wife dance documentation team, they are equipped to document performances, create and edit marketing videos and choreography reels, and much more.

Christopher Duggan Photography also covers Manhattan’s finest wedding venues, the Metropolitan and Tri-State areas, and frequently travels to destination weddings. The company’s mission is straightforward and heartfelt – create timeless, memorable images of brides, grooms, their families and friends, and capture special moments of shared love, laughter and joy.

His photographs appear in The New York Times, Destination I Do, Photo District News, Boston Globe, Financial Times, Dance Magazine, Munaluchi Bridal, and Bride & Bloom, among other esteemed publications and popular wedding blogs. One of his images of Bruce Springsteen was added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s celebrated photography collection in 2010. His company has been selected for inclusion in “The Listings” in New York Weddings magazine.

Finis: Working Women at The Joyce Theater

February 28, 2013 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

The Joyce Theater’s Working Women performances were so cool, because I know all the talented women involved. I’ve worked with them all before at The Joyce or Gotham Arts or at Jacob’s Pillow. I have histories with them, and working at this dance performance was just like photographing my friends. It was wonderful to see some new work by these inspiring artists and also fun to be around them. What can be better than that?

It was particularly interesting seeing such a variety of work all in one evening. And it was great to see an entire program dedicated to work by female choreographers, since they have historically gone under-represented in the dance world. These women are fierce and their is work cutting edge.

For more photos from the Working Women series, check out my Facebook album from the shows.

Christopher Duggan bio — Christopher Duggan, Photo by Julia Newman

Finis: Artist Portraits in my Natural Light Studio at Jacob’s Pillow

January 31, 2013 by 4dancers

contemporary dance students — Kassandra Cruz and Alonso Guzman

by Christopher Duggan

I had been dreaming for a few seasons about making portraits of the incredible dancers, choreographers and artists that come to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival each week. In 2012 I put it into action: the Natural Light Studio.

There is a deck right behind the Ted Shawn Theatre where dance photographer John Lindquist used to make images. I was lucky that the space was available for me to set up a simple but effective natural light soft box and backdrop.

skybetter and associates — Kile Hotchkiss

I made over 200 portraits that summer— between mainstage companies, School participants, faculty, Inside/Out artists, staff, interns, my daughter…

During the 2012 season, I was a faculty member for a dance photography workshop at the festival. The workshop was directed by dance photographer Rose Eichenbaum, and she asked all of us to describe our photography in one word. I thought a lot about it, and the word I chose was joyous. That’s my approach to all of my photography, both dance and weddings. I’m looking to have fun and see the joy inside of people. That doesn’t mean I want big cheesy smiles—I want to capture the joy created by being who you are.

joffrey ballet — Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili

I wanted every person I invited into the studio to have the space to emerge, to really be seen for who they are. In the spirit of the Pillow, in the spirit of creativity, in the spirit of collaboration, and in the spirit of making art together.

101_20120825_DougElkinsandFriends_Christopher.Duggan_054 — Doug Elkins & Friends

Other people have picked up on the fact that I always say let’s “make” pictures. I don’t “take” pictures. It’s semantics, but it’s true—when I work with dancers, choreographers, brides, friends…we “make” something together. And that’s what I felt like I achieved this summer in my Natural Light Studio. Whether dancing or more pedestrian, I was approaching the sessions in the same way, and different people brought different things to the table.

I’d say the summer was a success. And I can’t wait to expand on the project this season.

Finis: Falling In Love With Dance

December 31, 2012 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

One of my very first jobs in New York City was working at the box office at The Joyce Theater. Ballet Hispanico performed that season. The company danced Good Night Paradise by Ramon Oller, and I was totally taken away. It swept me off my feet.

It brings tears to my eyes thinking about it now, because that’s when I really fell in love with dance. There was something so sexy and romantic and ordinary at the same time. The dance showed that human connection you make when you bump into each other in the kitchen—when you’re going for a napkin and the other person is throwing away the coffee grinds. There’s something that dance does that no other art can. I stood in the back of the audience every night to watch.

And now I have the privilege of capturing some of the magic in dance through photography. Here are some photos from Ballet Hispanico’s recent New York premiere of Danzón, choreographed by Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro at The Apollo Theater, performed with live music by the Paquito D’Rivera Ensemble. (Danzón was originally created on Luna Negra, a company I photographed at the Pillow last summer.)

A Special Kind Of Dance…

October 31, 2012 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

Some of you may not know that I have another job–or at least another version of my photographer life. I split my time between photographing dance and weddings. Just this past week I had two engagement shoots with happy couples before preparing for a visit to Chicago to make pictures with The Joffrey Ballet.

To some, my two passions sound like a strange combination of pursuits, but I’ve found a lot of connections between my work in dance and at weddings. Each dance performance (especially world premieres) and every wedding I photograph is a once in a lifetime event. It takes intense focus and a keen awareness to find just the right moments to create the perfect image.

And I’m lucky that my two passions combine in another very meaningful way – I get to photograph dancing at my weddings, too! There’s all this energy at a wedding, and when people finally get on the dance floor, it’s this huge outpouring of joy and excitement. It’s so much fun to watch close families and friends let loose.

Not only that, but the special dances – first dances, father-daughter dances – mean even more to me now that I have a daughter of my own.

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