Latest photos from Claude Schneider
The annual Cambridge University Fashion Show held its launch party at Vodka Rev with cocktails, models, and designer dresses on auction. I was asked to take a few promotional photos for the event’s sponsor, the Grand Arcade, to use in their publicity. I also got a couple of interesting photos on the dance floor, including a lovely shot of one of my portrait models, Hayley.
Hayley
More photos from the Fashion Show Launch Party on CantabPhotos
KT Tunstall finally made it back to Cambridge after a three year absence. Since her last gig here, at the Cambridge Folk Festival (view my photos of the gig), she has launched her second album, and taken the rest of the world by storm.
More photos of KT Tunstall’s Corn Exchange concert on CantabPhotos
Again, this isn’t one of my photos, but I’m in it, hitting a pose from the Acrobatic Rock’n’Roll routine that I dance with my partner, Emily. The Cambridge Dancers’ Club booked a photoshoot with Andrew Carruth of Ely Photo Factory, and some ballroom, dancesport, salsa and Rock’n’Roll couples dressed up and danced (or posed) for the camera. This is one of my favourite photos of Emily and I from the shoot, Emily getting into the splits as I do a straddle jump behind her. Along with many other people, I wasn’t sure that the photo hadn’t been photoshopped when the photographer gave us the CD, but thankfully one of the other RnR dancers at the shoot assured us that it is indeed genuine :)
More photos from the shoot are on the Cambridge Dancers’ Club website
Sarah, a dancer friend, came round one evening, and during the conversation mentioned that she was thinking of dying her hair slightly redder. I took a quick portrait photo, and after some brief photoshopping, showed her how it could look.
A fourth year linguist, Will has been acting throughout his time at Cambridge, and is hoping to pursue a career in drama. His agent recommended that he get a new headshot photo, and I was highly recommended by one of his peers (one of my muses), Rebecca.
After the CUTAZZ Dance Show, I was approached by the boyfriend of the dance teacher / lead performer (Natalie Demain), to make a canvas print of one of her dances that I’d photographed, as a birthday present. I put together a few drafts of different artistic styles for the print, and a week later, the canvas was delivered in time for her birthday, and I think looks rather great.
The original photograph
Two friends of mine met on an Oxbridge trip two and a half years ago, and they’re now married :) They chose Wadham College, Oxford, as the location for the ceremony and celebrations, as the bride’s grandfather is a fellow at the college. Very handy, as it made for a pretty wedding location. It also meant I was able to go to the upper balcony in Hall to get a photo of the dinner in its splendid glory. The photo of Hall is a stitch of 16 photos, mimicking a very wide-angle lens.
Dining Hall, Wadham College, Oxford
The Groom’s Speech
The fourth and final major dance show of the term. While the Queens’ College Contemporary Dance Society may lack the budget of the larger dance shows, it is now in its ninth year, and covers a range of contemporary dance styles that its members, and Dancer-in-Residence Adèle Thompson, have put together. The most innovative piece, which provided my favourite visual image of the show, saw a musician playing a double bass while performing with another dancer.
More photos of Sprung can be viewed at CantabPhotos, and videos of selected performances can be viewed on YouTube.
Having photographed the CUCDW dance show at the ADC for the last 4 years, and to promote the photographs I’d recently taken of this year’s show, I put together a design showing my photos from the last four years, including the montage that I put together of this year’s show. I’m fortunate to know the ADC’s marketing manager (one of my muses), so was able to put up an A1 poster in the corridor leading to the auditorium. I currently have three exhibits up in the ADC – a range of selected framed photos from my portfolio up in the bar, headshots of current student actors, and now this dance poster. A1 prints can be rather pricey, but I found out about a fantastic printing company, MyShoot, who provide a personal and very well-priced service. Click on the image below to get a closer look.
While these photos weren’t taken by me, they do feature me; they were taken by another great Cambridge photographer, Reggie Thomson. He normally photographs beautiful landscapes, flowers, and Cambridge colleges, and for the first time tried his hand at dance photography, with great success.
I dance in the Cambridge University Rock’n’Roll Team, which performs acrobatic dance routines at balls, events, and charity galas, with individual team couples taking part in various competitions throughout the academic year. I’ve been dancing with Emily for the past year and a half, and we did quite well in our first first year of competing together. The team travelled to Bristol and back in one day for the the SUDA competition (Southern Universities Dance Association). Dancing for a total of 3 minutes, it’s just as well Cambridge took the first 6 places, and Emily and I were very pleased to come away with the top spot.
