“Comedy of Darkness” realized a long-term idea through a last-minute decision.

Alexis Borth

They weren’t expecting me, but they were kind enough to let me stay and do some work while they did theirs. The group of seven dancers had been organized by Alexis Borth, a multitalented artist who shares my deep love for improvisation in the arts. I’d been trying for over a year to photograph dancers because I felt they’d be a great subject for my particular way of making images, and I was right.

As I’d hoped, motion-blur photography emphasizes the emotionality of modern dancers’ work, producing a sensual, dream image in which every form’s precise biological nature becomes a matter of interpretation. In each image, surreal characters and their bizarre relationships stir in the mind of the viewer. Placed in random sequences, the images begin to suggest narratives. The theatricality remains strong, and the mood that emerged from this shoot was dark, yet clearly absurd. Hence the title of the collection.

To start the dance session, Alexis read a short essay she’d written. I don’t recall what it was about, but it was intended to draw the participants to a similar frame of mind as they moved to recorded music. This event, called Making Moves Improv Jam, is a regular occurrence at the Charlotte Street Foundation’s black box performance space. There was almost no audience that night, but none of the performers seemed to care. I moved around the outskirts of the space, changing lenses and shutter speeds for over an hour, capturing 250 images, thanks to the generosity of Alexis and the other participating artists: Jillian Kramschuster, Oscar Trujillo, Laetitia Hohenberg, Liat Roth, Javier Córdoba and Andrea Skoronek.

“Going Over”

Later, in post-production, I tried several digital treatments but soon realized that the 25 best pictures had a certain magic that only dissipated the more I altered them. With minimal adjustments, they appeared to be photographs of another world, in which mystical beings on an incomprehensible journey conducted strange rituals.. I swear, this long-exposure technique sometimes opens a window into another dimension where the unexpected takes material form. For example, in the picture titled, “Going Over.” It appears that several beings are clustered together as they try — or try not to — cross a bridge guarded by a dark, malevolent figure. Is it the land of the dead they’re about to enter? Well, there’s something about that picture that blows my mind: that bridge they’re on doesn’t exist. It wasn’t in the room. I have no explanation for its appearance. It even casts a ‘shadow’ on the surface beneath it. 

I showed the collection to Kimi Kitada, a curator at Charlotte Street who manages exhibits in the gallery, and she liked it! She suggested I reconnect with Alexis to see if we could put together a live show using the images as an inspiration. Alexis was enthusiastic about the idea and we started making plans. Soon afterward, I had an opportunity to meet with Pat Alexander, who runs the Prodolab series at Charlotte Street, and he agreed to slate our improve-dance production for March 23. 

We were fortunate to be able to add Colin Blunt to the team, a composer who’s worked with Alexis before. Colin, who performs under the alias of Vena Cova, has a minimalistic, electronic style, often layering his music with the sounds of AM radio stations. It’s a perfect fit, in my opinion. (Listen to his music on Soundcloud here.)

I think “Comedy of Darkness” is my best work so far in photography and I’m excited about where we’re headed with the performance.