1st place
gold star award
Lisa Tomasetti
australia
title
The Australian Ballet on the International Stage
With Australian Ballet Director David McAllister's blessing, I started taking the dancers out into the cities, often working inside half hour gaps in rehearsal schedules to scout for locations within 10-15 minutes of the theatres. On the street, despite being in costume and moving with the precision that is the language of their art, the dancers were not in character. The resulting images are behind the scenes portraits capturing the individual identities of the artists.
By removing the dancers from their controlled, interior environment and placing them in gritty urban landscapes, their stylised, classical form juxtaposed with the everyday reality of city living creates a joyful, humorous take on the traditional ballet portrait.
Here the dancers pirouette and leap across New York's 6th Ave, surrounded by bemused NYPD officers, locals in Tiananmen Square, or by oblivious commuters in a Tokyo train station.
In 2014 I received my Masters in Documentary photography from Sydney College of the Arts.
Parallel to my arts practice I have worked for many years as production photographer for Australia's leading theatre and dance companies. From 2006-2018 I was the International Tour Photographer for The Australian Ballet, travelling to London, Tokyo, Paris, New York, Beijing documenting one of Australia's principal performing arts companies.
I also work in the Film and Television Industry as a Stills Photographer. Since 1996 my credits include "Shine", "Star Wars-Ep2", "Charlotte's Web", "Top of the Lake", "Carmen".
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entry description
From 2006-2018 I was the International Tour photographer for The Australian Ballet, travelling to New York, Tokyo, Beijing, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Shanghai, London. As well as documenting behind the scenes moments of one of Australia's largest performing arts companies, I developed a personal project of photographing the dancers in the streets.With Australian Ballet Director David McAllister's blessing, I started taking the dancers out into the cities, often working inside half hour gaps in rehearsal schedules to scout for locations within 10-15 minutes of the theatres. On the street, despite being in costume and moving with the precision that is the language of their art, the dancers were not in character. The resulting images are behind the scenes portraits capturing the individual identities of the artists.
By removing the dancers from their controlled, interior environment and placing them in gritty urban landscapes, their stylised, classical form juxtaposed with the everyday reality of city living creates a joyful, humorous take on the traditional ballet portrait.
Here the dancers pirouette and leap across New York's 6th Ave, surrounded by bemused NYPD officers, locals in Tiananmen Square, or by oblivious commuters in a Tokyo train station.
about the photographer
I'm a Sydney based photographic visual artist, who for the last 30 years has exhibited extensively throughout Australia as well as holding solo shows in London, Shanghai and Barcelona. My work is held in the collections of The South Australian Museum, Western Australia Art Museum, ArtBank, The National Portrait Gallery and The Chekhov Museum, Moscow.In 2014 I received my Masters in Documentary photography from Sydney College of the Arts.
Parallel to my arts practice I have worked for many years as production photographer for Australia's leading theatre and dance companies. From 2006-2018 I was the International Tour Photographer for The Australian Ballet, travelling to London, Tokyo, Paris, New York, Beijing documenting one of Australia's principal performing arts companies.
I also work in the Film and Television Industry as a Stills Photographer. Since 1996 my credits include "Shine", "Star Wars-Ep2", "Charlotte's Web", "Top of the Lake", "Carmen".
back to gallery