P#25 Q4B: Getting the Best Ballet Photographs

A Little Respect Goes a Long Way

Joe McNally: One of the foremost things I always do when I work with dancers (and I have a great deal of respect for them in their own expression of their art) is I try to be very respectful. I try to create a comfort zone for them to express themselves in the art form of their dance and work with them, very much a collaborative effort when you're working with other creative people.

I make suggestions, to be sure, but then they digest those suggestions and come back with something that invariably is better than what I suggested. They know the physicality of dance and how they can show that. I provide the framework or the staging for it. One of the things that I've always found to be very successful is to take these beautiful dancers and put them in unlikely or unexpected places.

I did a story about Paloma Herrera for LIFE a number of years ago when she was "the baby ballerina" of the American Ballet Theater. She was being touted as an incandescent new dancer at a very, very young age so I did a story about her and I was able to move her around New York. I actually put her on pointe in a romantic tutu on the New York City subway.

Audri Lanford: I remember that very well. You did one of her that shows just her feet. It's an amazingly powerful image.

Joe McNally: I have that in my book and I'm glad that you noted it because it is an unusual dance picture and it does indicate that fine line that dancers tread between pain and beauty. There's an enormous price that dancers pay to do what they do and be who they are.

In Summary

Dance isn't just about beauty and grace. It's also about dedication, hard work and even a little pain. How do you capture all that in a photograph? According to Joe McNally, you need to respect your subjects and the price dancers pay if you want to take truly great ballet photographs.