Creating and capturing culture.
At our best, we think we do each quite well. And much of the attention in capturing goes to the set recordings that tell the full story.
But today we want to take a special moment of reflection to examine the subtler, more nuanced approach to capturing moments in dance. Still photography distills swaths of time and inertia into a finite instant. Done well, the energy that flows through a room can be represented with a single frame. Not unlike the DJ or the dancer, the photographer is an inextricable part of the moments they capture. The process of observing the scene and snapping the frame requires physical presence within the space, and that presence needs to be earned.
Jess Licata photographs most of our shows. She does so so well, and with such a connection to our voice, that we wanted to take today to curate and highlight some of our favorites from her oeuvre. Motion, grit, and the pooling of light in a dark room are staples of her work. She understands the way colored club lighting both accentuates and masks the individuals that dance in it. She sees the dirt on the walls, the sweat on our chins, and makes it all beautiful. Above all else, she knows the purpose of these spaces is to initiate motion, both together, and individually, to find true expression through common sound.
Jess, you’re an incredible talent we couldn’t be more proud to work with. You earn every bit of presence with the lens, and capture the culture with meaning and impact. To many more nights moving together in dark rooms.
