The Dance

Concept

My work for the past few years has been in the medium of multiplane photography. After working in stop motion animation, music video production and 3d computer animation, I wanted to work in a medium with new creative and technical challenges.

The multiplane camera is traditionally a motion picture camera used in the animation process that moves pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and distances from one another. This creates a three-dimensional effect. Walt Disney Studios used a multiplane camera on Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Pinocchio (1940).

I have built a multiplane camera for still photography, in my dining room. Some people believe a dining room is for dining…not me! I believe a dining room is a studio for photography production.

Material and objects must be prepped for production. After the objects are placed on the glass, lights are placed and adjusted, you are ready to shoot. The camera pointed down “sees” the world created on the layers of glass…in camera. What you see is what you get!

I have also created the photos for "Swing High...Swing Low", a children's book to develop awareness of mental wellness.

After working with a multiplane camera for a few years, I have learned what keeps pulling me towards this technique. It is definitely not that is an easy thing to do! It is a combination of sculpture, mosaics, lighting and photography. I think of it as a sculpture that only looks correct from the position of the camera. Objects must be placed with utmost precision on the X, Y and Z axes. When I use objects like tiny pieces of paper or staples, I use a paintbrush for minor adjustments.

After the objects are placed, lighting can begin. A minor tweak of the placement of an object or a light can bring the photo to life. Lighting and object placement can go back and forth where an adjustment of one requires the movement of another. This “dance” of light and objects can take days to get the desired results. The discoveries during this challenging process when bringing an image to life are worth the efforts.