Cellist Louella Hasbun. San Jose, California. May 17, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cellist Louella Hasbun practices backstage during intermission at a performance of the Symphony Silicon Valley

I’m going to make this partial a story about photography and partially a story about musicians—but first some quick background. I have been an “embedded photographer” with two classical music performing groups since the fall of 2012 while working on a project that will continue through the fall of 2014. The nature of the project is a bit of a long story, so I won’t go into the details here, except to say that I am fortunate to have what must be nearly unprecedented access to the world of these wonderful artists. I like to think that the lengthy time I have had to work with them has let me develop a special affinity for them and what they do, and I think that it has also allowed them to come to trust me and what I’m going as I photograph them. There are few endeavors that regularly exhibit the same level of physical, mental, and aesthetic focus and energy as music. There is a raw power in watching this when scores of performers work together in an orchestral performance, but there is also a very special power in the intense inward focus on individual performers, too.

As I have worked with the orchestras I have learned a lot of practical things about how to photograph them. Some are simple and mundane—such as what equipment works well for my approach. Others are a bit more complicated to explain—such as how to anticipate and capture momentary expressions that come and go so fast that they are perhaps not seen by those who don’t know to look for them, or how to photograph musicians in moments of peak engagement, or how to use stage and backstage lighting to best advantage, or how to see a short-lived moment and quickly make a photograph in poor light and without intruding on that moment. This photograph perhaps illustrates the last two of those points. Over time I have learned to look for what I think of as “pools of light” in the backstage environment. Much of this environment is quite badly lit, both in terms of the levels and the quality of the light. But there are a few spots that I have found where a small area may fall under a work light or similar. I watch these areas intently, and any time someone “lands” in one of them I watch to see if a photograph develops. For a moment, this cellist sat in one of those “pools of light” and, focusing inwardly, practiced intently for a few moments. It is almost like photographing wildlife, and I had just an instant to find a composition and make a few exposures before the moment was over.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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