Lisa Tomasetti. Dancers from The Australian Ballet photographed the streets of iconic cities.
For the last 14 years I have been the official international tour photographer for The Australian Ballet, documenting behind the scenes one of Australia’s largest performing arts organisations while on the road. My international tours began under the leadership of retiring Artistic Director David McCallister, who provided me with wonderful support and encouragement and nurtured my “Dancers in the Streets” project.
I have travelled with the company on their tours to Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. As well as capturing the dancers on stage mid-performance, during rehearsals, and while preparing and gathering the strength for challenging roles just moments before stepping on stage, I also embarked on a personal project of photographing the dancers in the streets of these iconic cities.
By removing the dancers from their controlled, interior environment and placing them in the gritty urban landscapes of the cities we visited, I was interested in juxtaposing their stylised, classical theatrical form with the everyday reality of city living. Here the dancers pirouette and leap across streets, in the heart of Beijing, surrounded by bemused NYPD officers, by Harajuku girls, or by oblivious commuters in a Tokyo train station.
When placed among the general public, the spectacular athletic prowess and sculpted forms of the dancers (complete with the extravagance and delicate finery of their costumes) creates a humorous, unique and joyful take on the traditional ballet portrait, celebrating and honouring these extraordinary artists, their host cities, and the dance.
Lisa Tomasetti has been working as a visual artist for the last 25 years. Her work has been exhibited internationally in London, Shanghai and Barcelona. Tomasetti’s work is widely collected privately here and abroad, and is held in the collections of the SA Art Museum, WA Art Museum, ArtBank, Albury Regional Art Gallery and the Chekhov Museum, Moscow. In 2006 Tomasetti was a finalist in The Archibald Photographic Portrait Prize, and in 2007, 2009 and 2011 was a finalist in The National Portrait Gallery Photographic Prize. In 2019 she was a finalist in “The William Bowness Photography Prize” and Winner in the“International Creative Communication Award”, Los Angeles.
Submit your work to be considered for solo or group exhibitions in Head On Photo Festival. The last day to submit work is Sunday, 23 March.
Work up close with two of Australia’s pre-eminent photographers, explore regional Australia from a unique viewpoint, meet new people and develop your photographic practice!