Hillel's Show

Hillel Kogan is a very skilled performer as well as  in many others creating fields.

http://www.danceinisrael.com/tag/hillel-kogan

http://www.danceinisrael.com/tag/hillel-kogan/

This  scene was a dance in Jaffa .

Thanks

Sorry for the typo. The second address  is the right one.

As well as this one:

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=12677572

Best regards Pnina!

PDE

Yes, it is good to enlarge this one. A very nice presentation, Pnina.

Amy

A well-exposed image, particularly considering it involved movement and low light, but I think with performance photography, the shots are more interesting when you can see the facial expressions of the performers. I do think these types of shoots are fun because you never know what you might have captured, and I imagine Pnina enjoyed reviewing her results from this performance. I'm also guessing there are others she found more appealing.

Even if (almost all of) the subject is captured in a short and motionless moment, the whole body of the person speaks of movement. Is he stopping a movement? Or initiating a movement? Is it slow and controlled? Or fast and explosive? How did he end up there, and where is he going next? I think all these undetermined states, all these possibilities, makes this picture interesting and intriguing, a picture that will in a way look a little different every time one looks at it.

(and excuse my English, it is not my native language)

"Performance photography" - Bill, I agree with your point about facial expressions when it comes to concerts, dramatic plays, and perhaps other types of performance. Dance, however, may be a different story. In my opinion, a dancer's body positions, i.e., "body language," are just as important, if not more so. The body language of this dancer, which Pnina has successfully and dramatically captured, conveys several different emotions to me - feeling constricted (note his stance and foot positions), feeling free (his pulling up his costume), and/or curiosity (how his head position reveals how intently he is staring at the floor). If the dancer's facial expressions were visible, I might be more informed about his emotions. But since the image reflects ambiguity in that regard, it opens up possibilities for interpretation on the viewer's part. This, to me, is one of the strongest explanations for its success.

Yashir koach, Pnina.

Pnina's body of performance photos speaks for itself. There are a variety of riches among her many dance and other performance photos. The ones I like best are the ones where the photographer has given me a unique and intimate perspective on the dance, taking what the dancer and choreographer have collaborated on and adding important photographic perspectives and qualities that signify a work of art beyond the work of art that is the dance or play. A couple of examples of Pnina's photos that I appreciate for those reasons are HERE and HERE.

This particular photo, for me, falls a little short of many of the others. I don't mind the lack of expression, given that a body of dance photos will naturally feature some that show the body position and gestures more than the facial expression. At the same time, I understand that, in isolation, and in highlighting only one photo, a viewer would want to see the face and expression here.

This particular photo seems more a presentational photo than one where Pnina has interpreted the dance or created her own work of photographic art. That, too, has an important place in what Pnina is doing and in any body of performance photos. Though the lighting was obviously designed to go with the dance and Pnina had no say in that, the lighting is a little boring in a solo still photo. It just doesn't do much for me, especially compared to some of the wonderful lighting Pnina's utilized so effectively in some other photos. And the way the shadows fall on the dancer in this photo does not work that well for me, with what seem like two unflattering blotches on the shoulders and shadows in general that look a little more like color patches than shadows. The shadows on the legs come across to me as somewhat dark and inorganic.

I think Pnina has very well captured a certain kind of intensity here, that is compelling and stage-like and suggests the power of this dancer and of dance in general. The kind of bearing down we see in this particular moment is rather powerful as is the spread of the legs of the dancer. I can feel determination and more.

Great choice for a POW. Pnina is one of my favorites here on PN, and this dancing shot, is representing several of the qualities of Pnina's photographic works: her long term engagement with dancing troops which permits here to catch the work of dancers and scene performance in general in all its dimensions: emotions, movements, suffering, joy, beauty... The colors and the general composition of the POW is a masterly created as so often, when it comes to Pninas shots.
A great congratulation to Pnina for this very well deserved POW.

I think dance photography is similar to sports photography with regard to how the viewer is impacted. Without the facial expression, the body positioning has to be dramatic for the shot to be noteable. In this particular photo, I don't find that the positioning causes me to take an extended look. I agree in concept with what Michael states about the facial expression being unnecessary, but also agree with Fred in noting that this shot conveys less emotion than some others in the same portfolio (hopefully I'm paraphrasing accurately).

Thanks the elves for choosing my work for the POW, and this particular photo of mine .
As I thought ,and not for the first time , how represent a dance to viewers without them seeing the whole creation .
Sometimes it is possible, but not always , So I will try to explain .
The dancer is - Hillel Kogan, he is one of the best man's performers I have met, he is as well responsible for the Bat - Sheva group rehearsals ( one of the best dance group in the country).

This show of his took place In Jaffa at the Choreographic Association,and was some sort of an experiment, there were 7 dancers ,each one have had 7 moments to dance his own show....
,
Hillel is always combining speech (words which are a story), to movements. His 7 moments were hilarious,and he was the best of the 7,but too short for photographing him. This one was the best of the few. And even though his face are not seen it can arouse cureocity. The story in short is about a man that waked up in the morning and feels that his body became parts, and he starts to compose them back..and telling in words and movement how it is done...when somebody is knocking at the door.. And he thought it is Pina Baush .....All the dancing place roared with laughter..
Bill thanks , I hope my explanation have answered your critique that I accept in general.
Frode, thanks as well, your English is very good as well as your interpretation ;-))
Michael, your interpretation of '"body language" is exactly as I have felt it .Thanks.

Fred, as usual with your critique , you go into the smallest details ,which is always thoughtful and a pleasure for me. Reading Bill's ,and your comments, I think maybe some of the explanation should have been given when uploading this photo.Thanks for offering me the extra thought.

Anders,thanks for such beautiful words and wishes! As we know each other at PN for long long years, your appreciation is a real present.!
Thanks a lot all of you so far,and as I photographed Hillel more than once, I hope you will enjoy the 3 links




http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=12677572
http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=12677753
http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=12677672

Pnina, looking over your portfolio reveals some really extraordinary stuff. Of the links above, I particularly like the 2nd. The enjoyment you get from photography is evident in your work.

The explanation you provide for the POW puts it in context, though I would have never gotten that from the photo. My interpretation was that of someone in mental anguish, perhaps from the death of a loved one. It would be interesting to see how others interpret it.

Bill, while I didn't go as far as to wonder about the cause of the emotion I felt from the photo (your example being the death of a loved one), I felt strong determination or will, though your feeling anguish makes sense to me as well. A still photo often transforms whatever was going on that the camera was pointing at. So, while the explanation is interesting and the audience found humor at that moment in the dance, nothing of that comes through to me in this photo, which is why photos are so fascinating. The explanation is an interesting companion to the work and, in a photo essay, with words and more pictures, the whole might have added up to what Pnina is describing. The solo photo, however, takes on a very different feeling for me.

I agree with the Fred on this one. I do not find this particular image very interesting in itself, but accept that as part of a series it could be interesting. Since I am not looking at a series though I can only state as I find.

Not much to add to the comments - Frode summarized very well: "whole body of the person speaks of movement."
It's great to see one of Pnina's photos selected as POW - well deserved honour!

As I wrote before,my thinking about how reprsent a dance is very accurate with this one... !
Bill, he was in anguish as the story develops ,he was sure it is Pina Bause....(the mother of the modern dance....and an icon)) in his (imagination)and was really stressed., started to run in his room, shouting what am I going to do..? ;-))

Fred and Robin, I agree with both of you, some explanation was needed at this photo, and I have learned a lesson! thanks both of you!
Wolfgang,thanks for the warm impression and appreciation.

To all of you,as the photo raised the question of better understanding the dance, and as Hillel is using a lot of words combined with the movement...I upload another photo of this dance,and how he represented his anguish....

Many times an image is more interesting when we want to see something, and we can not. It makes us want to see beyond.
Capture a good image on stage is not an easy task, you can not handle the light, you can not control the movement (often very fast for low light conditions).
There are some elements that I like here: the bodily expression of the dancer, the composition, the light (not the best here, but I like it), and color. The fact that the actor is wearing a dress but seems to want to take it off also generates interest.
Prina, I congratulate you for a really very good images, (especially your dance performances pictures) which show a high sensitivity and an artistic streak.

Finally, Pnina! You have offered so many wonderful performance photos, and finally one has gotten the attention of those who choose the Photo of the Week. I like some of your others better, but this is very powerful.

Congratulations!

--Lannie

Pnina, Congratulations on your 'Photo of the Week'. I'll piggy back on Landrum's comments. Others have said it all. Well deserved! Best, LM.

Thanks Rosario ,for stopping at the POW, and very nicely expressing your impression. As I work with dancers groups for some years now, I find the camera as the best tool for keeping the flying moments /movements of a dance creation.

Lannie, thanks for your nice and honest impression. I appreciate it very much.

Len, thanks as well for your appreciation.

I would like to ask all of you ( if you are fololwing , and if like you of course) if the second version has added some more to the chosen POW .
Iwould like as well to take this opportunity, and share with you some lines about dance/photography, which I have written for a dance exhibition.

Creating in Photography
Photography for me is human life , his landscapes, surrounding, expressions and creation, and my observation through my camera lens. Part of it is a dialogue with artist creating in different mediums and languages, and part a dialogue with my inner world.

Dance/ focus
Is a dance that draw its contents from life pieces ,and changing it to a fantasy where the body and movement are the expressions tools. They are the row material for my commentary and creation .

A well deserved recognition from the Elves, Pnina! You have some of the most wonderful photographs of performances. This one does not break the rule.
Take care,
Mário

Mario, thanks for your compliment that I, as you know, appreciate much!

Simply beautiful and amazing light. Yep, well deserved recognition for this on-going work and a great example of the quality of the photos.

Barry,thanks a lot for your nice words, Very much apreciated!