Dancers Among Us Stranded on Aspen Mountain

I flew to Aspen to photograph the prestigious Aspen Santa Fe Ballet for Dancers Among Us. Eleven of their company members had volunteered to work with me. I had just over one day to take advantage of this amazing opportunity. Needless to say, the schedule was very tight.

I arrived the evening before without a plan, relying on serendipity to guide me. Fortunately, ASFB had generously put me up at the Hotel Joseph, one of the most famous hotels in Aspen. The next morning I discovered why- I awoke to a spectacular view of Aspen Mountain. I had my first location!

“That will be one-hundred-and-five dollars, please.”

I was buying three tickets to the top of the mountain. ASFB principles Katie Dehler and Samantha Campanile were along for the adventure. We had two hours in the schedule, and the ride on the gondola was thirty minutes in each direction. I had an hour to take a $105 photograph.

As we arrived at the top of the mountain, I thought, “Now what?” It was windy, freezing and barren. We didn’t bring any ski equipment (surprisingly the ballerinas didn’t want to risk their careers by skiing for my photo). What scenario could I possibly create?

Once again, serendipity stepped in.

“Would you like your photo taken?” A mountaintop photographer was offering his services.

“No, but I’d like to photograph you photographing these dancers.” We struck a deal. Now it had to be a $125 photo.

We stepped into the lodge to warm up. I asked Katie and Samantha to put on pointe shoes. To the delight of everyone, they practiced some poses.

We went outside into the freezing wind. They were not happy.

But they soldiered on.

I liked it, but I wasn’t thrilled. I wanted them to be more in sync, like a duet. An element of danger would also be exciting- we were on the top of a mountain, after all. I abandoned my photographer idea (and my $20), climbed down a steep decline and asked them to look over the edge and brave the freezing wind yet again.

Twenty excruciating minutes later, I had my $125 shot. I also had two frozen ballerinas. We rushed towards the gondola, just in time to meet the next crop of dancers.

“Sorry, the gondola is closed. The winds are too strong. You’ll have to wait. I don’t know how long.”

What a bummer! Everyone was waiting down at the base, and I was stranded on the top of the mountain with two ballerinas.

Wait a minute, that doesn’t really sound so awful. We made the best of it- we drank hot chocolate and snuggled by the fire (I may be exaggerating just a little).

Katie even agreed to pose for one more photo.

Finally we made it down to the base, met up with the rest of the dancers and had a magical evening of shooting. But nothing compares to ballerinas on a mountaintop.

I've Been Keeping Secrets... Lots of Them

A relationship is built on trust, so I have to be honest and admit that I've been keeping secrets from you. As I've traveled around the country, I've become increasingly deceptive- what started as a small secret in Chicago grew into full-fledged deception by Atlanta. I feel awful about it, but I can't stop. This weekend I will be in New Orleans and Houston, and I just know the betrayal will continue.

So it's time to stop pretending and just admit my duplicity. As I publicly celebrate my travels around the country for Dancers Among Us, privately I've been- God, I hate to admit this- holding back most of the photos.

Wow, it feels great to admit the truth. What a relief!

Really, it's not my fault. I want to commit to you, and I'm dying to share everything with you, but I just can't. My publishers at Workman won't let me! They want to make sure there's a significant number of new images featured in the book. I've begged and pleaded and thrown tantrums my two-year-old daughter would envy, but to no avail. They stand firm!

On a certain level, you must have known. Did you really think I only took two photos in Miami? One in Seattle? None in Denver, Aspen and DC?

On the contrary, the past few months have been the most productive to date. I've had countless adventures- I trespassed at a slaughterhouse in Greeley, riled-up a Catholic school class in Edmonds, crashed a marijuana facility in Denver, got stranded on a mountain in Aspen, experimented with perchloric acid in a world-renowned laboratory in Palisades, shot in a rainstorm on the beach in Sarasota and a snowstorm on the streets of Seattle, and on and on... I've continued shooting in NYC as well, yet I haven't even mentioned it. I've sworn all the dancers to secrecy, and very few people have seen the new photos.

Over fifty of my favorite photos are languishing on my hard drive, waiting to be loved. Be patient, I tell them. Stay strong. Your time will come.

Or maybe I'm talking to myself.

(sharing with the dancers, but not the world)

Dancers Among Us Gets a Celebrity Endorsement

In December, I wrote an open letter to a Tony-winning Broadway legend, imploring her to participate in my book. It was titled, "Bebe Neuwirth, I Want YOU for Dancers Among Us!" It was a long shot, but you never know until you ask, right? Stranger things have happened. After a few days with no response, I let go of my fantasy. The Internet is just an empty echo chamber, I thought.

Six weeks later, an email shook my world.

"I just saw your blog request. I looked at the slideshow of your book's shots, and I'm completely charmed, moved, delighted and willing!"

Signed simply, "Bebe".

At this point, my life became totally surreal. Later that same day, I met Bebe at Prodigy Coffee, her husband's awesome new coffee shop in the west village. They were raving to me about ME. I was dumbstruck.

The Dancers Among Us collaboration happened immediately. After two hours of kicking around ideas, we settled on an idea I never would have anticipated. The location would be Equine Advocates, an amazing horse sanctuary Bebe works with in Chatham, NY.

I was leaving for a West Coast trip, and scheduled the shoot for the day I returned. I flew in late Friday night and arrived home at 2am. By 5am it had begun to snow, and by 7am it was a snowstorm. At 9am I was on the road to Chatham. As a testament to Bebe's commitment, she didn't cancel, despite the doom and gloom forecast.

After a treacherous trip, we both arrived around the same time. The 140 acre facility was breathtaking. Co-founders Susan and Karen Wagner generously opened their home to us, which was much appreciated given the twenty-degree temperature.

We went down to the stables. The stalls, as well as the rescued horses, turned out to be quite photogenic.




Bebe agreed to a photograph mucking out a horse's stall, which shows her terrific sense of humor (no surprise there). She's had two hip replacements, and the temperature was too frigid for her body to stay warm. I didn't want her to try anything extreme- the conditions were an injury waiting to happen. I gave her a pitchfork and asked her to do some Fosse moves while raking the hay. She played around as I hoped for a horse to arrive.






Finally a horse, lured by the soothing voice of Bebe's husband, Chris, came into view. The horse turned for a moment to look at Bebe, and she hit a couple of very fun, very Fosse poses while looking right back at him.






We rushed inside to warm up. Bebe's hands were frozen, but I was thrilled. I had gotten exactly what I wanted- a unique, whimsical image featuring Bebe in an unexpected environment, showcasing the dance style that made her a Broadway star. And whenever I'm completely satisfied, there's only one thing to say.

"Can we do another photo?"

Amazingly, Bebe agreed. I walked around the property, scouting a new location. I came upon this gem.





I ran back to the house and gathered the troops. Within twenty minutes had shot one of my very favorite images of the entire series- a photograph so beautiful it blows my mind. I absolutely cannot wait to share it with you...

In the spring of 2013, when the Dancers Among Us book is released! It's worth the wait.

Thank you Bebe.

Collapsing Under the Strain, Dancers Among Us Stalls at the Airport

I met with Workman Publishing for the first time in early June, 2011. They invited me in to discuss a possible Dancers Among Us calendar. A book deal wasn't mentioned when setting up the meeting.

I brought it up anyway.

They were intrigued, but they had reservations about the use of New York City exclusively as a backdrop. I had been shooting Dancers Among Us for two years, and I never considered moving outside the Big Apple. Of course, I dug in my heels and stood by that creative decision.

"Well, I have plans to travel around America this summer, shooting from coast to coast."

I didn't mention my plans were about five-seconds old.

"Oh, that's interesting." Editor-in-chief Susan Bolotin's interest seemed piqued. "Where?"

"Oh, you know... Like, uh... San Francisco, Chicago, Philly... uh, Colorado..." My voice trailed off. Is there even dance in Colorado, I wondered.

"Well, email us some photos from the road. I'm curious to see if the concept works outside of NYC."

And thus began the madness. In the past seven months, I've shot in hundreds of new locations, making sixteen separate trips around the country. I kept an active schedule in NYC as well, shooting almost four-hundred actor headshots and comp cards in that time, as well as the Women's US Olympic Rowing 2012 Calendar, the 2012 Paul Taylor Moving! campaign, and my first book cover.

Saturday it all caught up with me. I was on my way to Newark Airport for an early flight to Nashville, TN. Seven dancers from Nashville Ballet we waiting for me, along with several other talented local dancers.

I had already changed my flight from the night before. My family had been scheduled to join me in Nashville, and we were all going to fly out Friday night. But they were all suffering from the same flu-like symptoms I'd been working through for the past week. I would go alone.

As I pulled into the airport, the absurdity of what I was about to do became glaringly obvious. Aching, feverish and exhausted, I was abandoning any hope of rest and recovery, fueled by a blind urgency to fulfill the promise I made to Workman (and myself)- "Travel America from coast to coast."

America is too big, I finally realized. I can't get everywhere. Painful as it was to acknowledge that reality, it was also a relief. I turned the car around and went home to care for myself and my family.

The rest of my weekend looked something like this-

Kara Lozanovski, Chicago

Now that I'm rested and have a new perspective, I realize that I can indeed do it all...

I just may need ten sequels.

A Surprise Snowstorm in Seattle for Dancers Among Us

As the deadline approaches to deliver all my Dancers Among Us photos to Workman Publishing, my time in each city has become absurdly brief. Last week I had just one full day of shooting in Seattle and Aspen, and only a few hours in Greeley and Denver.

The lack of time was all the more daunting given the quality and quantity of my volunteers.

In Seattle, I had ten dancers from the prestigious Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB). We shot seven photos in thirteen frantic hours. It was a wildly successful day- one of the most productive cities.

I saved one location- and one PNB dancer- for the next day. Georgetown is a gritty industrial town on the outskirts of Seattle, and Ezra Thomson is a gritty kind of guy. It seemed like the perfect match.

I woke up to a light dusting of snow. I knew it was coming because everyone had been talking about it. Snow in Seattle is a very rare occurrence- a half-inch and the city shuts down. This mild smattering was certain not to stick.

And then the Heavens opened up.

I was in a full-scale snowstorm as I drove to Georgetown. By the time I arrived, we had very little time to shoot- I was due at the airport in an hour. As always, I was relying on serendipity to guide me. We drove through the downpour looking for a location. I thought I was looking for factories or graffiti or abandoned train tracks, but then we stumbled upon a junkyard under the freeway- it was love at first sight.



We had fifteen minutes to shoot. I asked Ezra to light a cigarette and to physicalize heavy desperation. The snow would be crushing him, a man lost and alone, caught in nature’s wrath.

It was almost impossible to shoot. My camera was soaked and fogging up. I couldn’t see anything. I set the auto-focus on Ezra and shouted directions. The focus kept locking on the snow rather than Ezra. He was slipping in the snow, literally beaten up by the storm. I grabbed a beer can from the street and gave it to him. I kept shooting until my fingers were frozen.

Three-hundred-and-thirty images I hadn’t reviewed.

I had no idea how the shots looked. I raced to the airport, disappointed by the outcome. I felt it had been too rushed, and that I hadn’t given him enough direction. The location and snow had been a gift, and I hadn’t capitalized on it. I was devastated.

On the airplane I turned on my computer, and I was blown away. Ezra had been magnificent. I hadn’t seen the beauty of his movement.

My favorite image came after I gave Ezra the beer and changed the composition to incorporate the freeway. He struck a beautiful, heartbreaking pose that said everything I had hoped to convey.



Thank you yet again, Serendipity, for always showing up in the perfect moments for Dancers Among Us. Next time though, you don't have to bring the full force of Mother Nature along with you.

Mega-Star Alex Wong Trashes Dancers Among Us

I was in Miami in November shooting Dancers Among Us when I saw this tweet-

"@jordanmatter: Love your photography and would love to shoot with you one day!" from a @AlexdWong

I continued shooting. Ten minutes later I received this email from Samantha Siegel, my social media consultant-

"I see that Alex Wong has reached out to you about shooting for Dancers Among Us-- do EVERYTHING in your power to make that happen!"

Then I started seeing passionate tweets from complete strangers commenting on the possible collaboration, urging it to happen.

I turned to the dancer I was photographing. "Who is Alex Wong?"

She looked at me like I had just said, "Who's this Obama guy I keep hearing about?"

"Alex is incredible. He was going to win So You Think You Can Dance until he tore his Achilles tendon before the final round. It was devastating. He's a huge star."

I really need to watch more television.

Once I started researching Alex, I got very excited. He's a tremendously athletic and beautiful dancer, with stunning lines and jumps to the sky. His background with ABT and Miami City Ballet gives him an artistry along with commercial dance.

I also learned that he had torn his other Achilles, and was in recovery. So what could he actually do? Guess I'd find out.

For some reason, the image of a streetlight at night kept popping into my head whenever I thought about shooting Alex. I couldn't shake it. We planned to meet one evening around Christmas in the West Village. I walked around looking for the right streetlight when I stumbled upon Minetta Lane, and here's what I discovered-





It had been raining, which added a nice reflection on the street and misty quality to the atmosphere. Alex started warming up. "I'm at about 50% recovery. I can jump, but I'll take it easy." And he proceeded to do a practice jump-





I need to do another shoot him again and see what 100% looks like.

I asked Alex to put on a shirt, grab a trash bag and throw it into the pile at the height of his jump. I'll call the photo, "Trash Night"-





CRASH!! The bag was filled with bottles. Maybe I should call it, "Recycling Night" instead. We grabbed another bag.

I loved the pose, of course, but I wasn't crazy about the composition. I needed to incorporate the alley more. He looked a little closed in.

We tried a few more throws.




CRASH!!! CRASH!!! CRASH!!!!

"What the hell are you doin' down there?!?" came a mysterious and angry voice from a window.

"We're doing a photograph, sir. We're almost finished." I replied, trying to sound casual.

"Do you have a permit?"

"Of course." I lied.

"I hope so, because I'm callin' the police!"

This put a little cramp in my creative process. I liked the shots we had taken, but there was something missing. I didn't want to get arrested trying to figure it out, but I didn't want to leave either. Neither did Alex.

Then it hit us like a ton of bricks. Why had I asked him to put a shirt on?

"Can you take off your shirt and change your pants to add contrast? I'm going to switch to a wider lens so we see more of the environment. Plus I have to incorporate that streetlight, and get more blue reflection on the ground."





Three more jumps. CRASH!!! CRASH!!! CRASH!!!

I could just feel the guy in the window fuming (with good reason- it was after 10pm). We looked at the shot together and agreed that it couldn't get any better. We loved it- the pose, the colors, the streetlight, the reflections... THE BODY! We escaped before the police could add more blue light to the scene. A Dancers Among Us success.

I like this mega-star thing and I'm ready to do some more. Mr. Baryshnikov, are you available next week?

www.dancersamongus.com


Postscript: Do you think I'm crazy enough to let Alex Wong leave with just one photo? Of course not. We went to his apartment (location undisclosed), and created one of my very favorite shots of the entire series. But you'll have to wait until 2013 to see it. Workman Publishing has asked me to keep it under wraps until the book is released. Believe me, it alone is worth the purchase price!

The Photograph the World Never Saw... Until Now

As I was taking this photograph of Parisa Khobdeh, I knew immediately it would be the cover shot for the Paul Taylor Dance Company's (PTDC) 2012 Moving! campaign.






In my blog, "When Life Gives You Lemons..", I documented the drama that led to creating this image. It was exhilarating, the culmination of a long history of collaborating with Parisa that started almost three years ago, on my first day of shooting Dancers Among Us.

"I've got this idea for dancers in everyday situations." I explained in our first phone conversation. I didn't have to say anything else.

"Fun. Meet me at Grumpy's, my favorite coffee bar. Let's do a coffee drinking photo."






She embraced the collaborative process so completely that I almost didn't have to collaborate.

"I'm going to a Yankee game. Meet me there. I'll do a jump in the crowd."






"I want to do a photo where I'm floating away holding balloons. I'll bring the balloons!"





It was fitting that Parisa ended up with the campaign's cover shot. The image would be displayed on a huge banner. Like a siren floating above Lincoln Center, Parisa would coax throngs of patrons into the David H. Koch Theater. PTDC would immediately sell-out their season, and I would be celebrated across the globe as the greatest living dance photographer...

"We're not using it. Can you shoot Parisa again?" Executive Director John Tomlinson asked me bluntly.

"Uhhhhh..."

"It doesn't match the 'Moving' theme. She's not going anywhere."

"Uhhhhh...."

"I want her jumping out of a bus, on her way to the show."

"Uhhhhh..."

"We need it for the cover of the brochure."

"The cover? Why didn't you say so? The bus is a great idea!"

Indeed, it was.





I can't argue with John- the shot works beautifully for the campaign. However, I still love the first photo, and I really wish I could put it on a cover as well.

Wait a minute...