You know in Roman Holiday when the photographer takes pictures of Audrey Hepburn all day with a cigarette lighter camera? Do tiny cameras exist that an orchestra could attach to music stands to take photos while each member was playing a certain movement or something? I would love to see some shots like that displayed in lobbies or used for advertising materials. Thoughts? What can orchestras do to make their photographs stand out?
The technology to photograph each musician from the stand certainly exists. I think it’s just a matter of demonstrating the value of the concept. I’d personally love to see video of each performer. As far as what an entire orchestra can do to make their performance photographs stand out, I love the visual idea of acrylic music stands and chairs. Lines of sight are a huge problem for photographers and videographers – having fewer things to compete with the performers expressions is key.
Hmmm. Acrylic chairs? Does he mean chairs that you can actually see through, then? So you could see our big rear ends? Um. Please not mine!
I don’t think it’s possible to take a picture of an oboist while playing and make it look good. We just look too darn weird when we play. Even the beautiful players. Notice that no one in these photos is playing the instrument! 😉
You can read the whole interview here.
(I should point out that he suggests NOT having your instrument in your pictures. Yikes! My instrument is my shield!)
I think that if you want really good photos of individual musicians performing, a better way would be to have them play individually while the photographer works up close – no other musicians on the stage, stage lighting (and perhaps some fill flash, etc.) for that player. Obviously not to be done during an actual concert.
Anyway, what would a video’ed orchestra peformance be without the obligatory “though the harp strings” shot?