Latest photos from Claude Schneider
Photoshoots
Paul and Vesna are without a doubt Cambridge University’s most successful ballroom & latin dancers. Having seen the results of my recent photoshoot with Samantha, one of their Dancesport friends, Paul commissioned a photoshoot for Vesna. The gardens, backs, and bridges of St. John’s are still my favourite location for photoshoots, and both Paul and Vesna were very photogenic. Expect another photoshoot with them soon…
I recently had a photoshoot with a dancer, and got some great photos of her in silhouette. Once I had processed the silhouette in black and white, I was then inspired by two of Magritte’s paintings, and here’s what I came up with.
The inspirational Magritte paintings:
The Blank Check (left) and The Large Family (right)
At the end of the second CCD photoshoot, I took turns with each dancer to get shots of them leaping in different poses and places, with the idea of putting together a specific image that I had in mind. I was hoping to play on two meanings of the word “Light”, in the dance show’s title.
Firstly, the dancers are depicted as light things, as they float in mid-air.
Secondly, I thought of a prism splitting white light into its constituent spectrum colours.
As always, I’m indebted to my dancer muses for providing me with the opportunity (and their talents) to create more works of art that I can be proud of.
After the second Cambridge Contemporary Dance photoshoot at the Senate House, I went with one if the dancers into Trinity College for a photoshoot. I’d photographed a CCD dance show, Impressions, in the first location (the columns under the Wren Library), so knew that it would be a great location for some photos.
I love photographing dancers as models, as they have such graceful control and understanding of their bodies.
From the two photoshoots with the Cambridge Contemporary Dance company dancers, this image was chosen for their poster and flyer, promoting their December show to celebrate Cambridge University’s 800th anniversary. The alcoves are on the west side of the Senate House, and made for ideal frames for the dancers.
A few days after the first Cambridge Contemporary Dance photoshoot, a second shoot had been scheduled at the Senate House. We’d learned from the earlier shoot that “light”, leaping photos looked good, and the main door of the Senate House made for a striking and identifiable background.
I took several more leaping shots on the grass, with the idea of compositing them into something specific…more about that in the next post.
Falling from the sky
The Cambridge Contemporary Dance company are putting on a show in December as part of Cambridge University’s 800th anniversary celebration year. The show has the rare privilege of taking place in the Senate House, the university’s main ceremonial building. The show is called “Light Matter”, so a couple of the ideas played with the weightless connotation of the word. I’ve photographed many of CCD’s dance shows in Cambridge, and have produced publicity photos for them in the past.
This one is my absolute favourite
Greek goddesses
The last image was a composite of 4 stacked photos, as it’s too hard to get all dancers to strike their mid-air pose at exactly the same time. It also allowed them to wear the same costume (of which there was only one), giving them a uniform appearance.
After the outdoor photos with friends, we had some fun taking photos diving into the swimming pool.
Dancer
Supermen
Superman
Superheroes
Dancer 2
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