Dance and Photography

Aside from photography, my other passion in life has always been dance. The concept of creating art through music and movement has always fascinated me, and I simply love discovering photographers who show a similar interest in the areas of performance, movement, and the body. So far I have merely dabbled into my research of dance photography, yet I am hoping to fully incorporate the subject matter into my final portfolio for this semester. This post serves as somewhat of a launching pad for me to get started and further my research...
Almost every master photographer has done a series relating to dance, movement, etc. One series that I've always found interesting is Richard Avedon's nude portraiture of ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev. Avedon captures the dancer's movement splendidly while also producing great work pertaining to the body. Annie Leibovitz has also shot dancers in several of her series and magazine features. Leibotvitz shoots with a similar interest in the dancer's body and form. Posted below is from a series she did on dance icon Mikhail Barishnikov.














The work that I've most recently researched however is Barbara Morgan's extensive study of modern dancer Martha Graham and her company. Morgan spent years documenting these dancers and their graceful movement and lines, creating some of the best action portraits of her time.