Helen
Burrows – Skin on Skin
Helen
Burrows is the photographer behind the forthcoming
exhibition at ISTD2. We caught up with Helen to find
out more about her work
Please
see the bottom of this page for details of the exhibition
>>
Tell
me about your history as a photographer
I won a competition almost by accident at
sixteen – a picture taken on the spur of the
moment with my Mum's camera, that my Dad entered into
a local photographic competition.
I learned some basics from my Dad, who is an enthusiastic
amateur, and then he gave me a film SLR camera, which
I still have and use, for my eighteenth birthday.
I studied politics, philosophy and economics at University,
although I took pictures on the side, and photographs
from a trip to India one summer were in a couple of
exhibitions. I remember when people asked me what
I was going to do when I graduated I used to think,
secretly 'well really, I want to be a photographer',
but I couldn't see how that could happen.
I moved to London and worked for a year, but I was
unhappy in that first job so applied to do a post
grad in photography at Central St Martins, which was
great both for learning technique and giving me space
to explore ideas.
After leaving St Martins, I started photographing
for music magazines - covering gigs and clubs. Reportage
was fun for me when I started, but over time I realised
I wanted more time, more control, more discussion
and collaboration with my subjects. I wanted to take
pictures as an event in itself, rather than to record
what others were doing.
To do this I needed to learn more about lighting,
and started assisting portrait and fashion photographers
– fashion photographers know more about light
than anyone. I learned a lot from this, although it
was very hard work - long days, lots of concentration,
and not much money!
It is now six years since I left St Martins and my
work is mainly portraiture and art projects. I am
fascinated by people – who they are, what they
do, what drives us, what shapes us - some people find
it funny that I've ended up as a photographer from
a degree in politics, but to me they are two ways
of looking at similar issues. I love portraits that
reveal the truth about someone, a reportage shot that
sums up an injustice, that visual art in general can
throw all kinds of questions about who we are and
what we do. On the other hand, and perhaps unfashionably
in the art world, I believe in beauty, and I'm aiming
to capture something that people enjoy looking at.
I am very visually orientated and really what interests
me about photography is part creating a compelling
image, and part its potential to illuminate the human
condition.
 |
 |
| Images
from the Skin on Skin series |
How did the idea for this exhibition come
about?
Since I started studying photography I've
been fascinated by its potential to capture trails
of movement. Skin
on Skin is the second series in an ongoing project
I am working on exploring movement. A couple of years
ago I was invited to photograph two new ballets that
a friend of mine, set designer Jon Bausor, was working
on with choreographer Cathy Marston. The images in
Don’t Move I Move, the first series in the project
came out of photographing their rehearsals, and showed
in a gallery in Soho in early 2006.
The thing I loved most about them was how they managed
to capture emotion, without relying on characterisation.
You can't tell what role the dancers might have been
playing, or who that dancer is. All that detail is
stripped away to leave just the emotions themselves,
and the wonder of what the human body can do.
Skin on Skin evolved out of an initial idea to create
an 'opposite' series to Don't Move I Move. Initially
I thought about an opposite – figures floating
on paleness where Don’t Move I Move was darkness.
I wondered, though, if this was a strong enough idea
for a whole series. I began thinking about skin tone
in general – what might react well against paleness,
but also whether skin itself mightn't be more interesting.
I was talking over ideas with a costume designer friend,
Julia Kalache, and saying how I needed to find some
dancers to work with. Although it had been great photographing
Cathy and Jon's work, I knew that this time I wanted
my own project – to have time with dancers where
I could direct them, discuss with them, ask them to
change or repeat or work on the movements that interested
me.
Julia has designed costumes for the English National
Ballet and she suggested one of their soloists, Daniel
Jones – she felt that he had the kind of outgoing
qualities that might suit this kind of project. I
was seeking dancers to collaborate with, not boss
around, so I was looking for dancers with ideas who
were open to trying something new.
This was around the Autumn of 2006, during which time
I saw Sylvie Guillem and Akram Khan in Sacred Monsters.
I suspect this really influenced my thinking. Ideas
present in their project – of the similarities
of classical ballet and kathak training, of finding
ways to transcend this and create something new, made
me reflect on how there is more similarity in difference
than you'd think.
I started thinking about the shapes difference dance
disciplines make. The Don't Move I Move series is
all ballet, and to me that is pretty clear: even in
the blur, a pointed and arched foot, the sweep of
a limb, are clearly ballet gestures.
I was wondering: what kind of shapes in space do other
dance traditions make? Could dancers from very different
traditions dance together? What kind of images might
this create? Would they be glaringly different, or
might in the end two very different styles merge in
an image so it is hard to tell where one begins and
the other ends? How would this fit with all our notions
of cultural differences and similarities?
This felt like a rich seam of ideas to work with,
so I began looking for dancers to compliment Daniel.
Vena Ramphal is a dancer and choreographer from the
South Asian tradition, and she also has an academic
interest in the kind of ideas of labels and identity
that this project would explore. I also really wanted
to work with an African dancer and with ADAD's help
I found Mohammed Dordoh, director of Semekor Arts.
He is from Ghana and grew up dancing there. Finally
Kei Akaoshi, Japanese, but also of the ENB, brought
both more ballet – allowing us to explore lifts
safely, but also a Japanese aesthetic.
Your
photos have an unusual dreamlike quality – tell
me about the significance of the way in which they
have been shot
The significance of it is maybe hard for
me to say – I hope the images do have emotion
in them, and that they move the viewer or are thought
provoking or raise questions. While editing I was
looking for the images that work on several levels
for me. I see certain things in them – echoes
of religious imagery or more elemental emotions like
joy or elusiveness. Beyond that I would prefer to
leave viewers to draw their own conclusions.
Describe
the process you went through to achieve these amazing
photographs
Quite aside from developing creative ideas
and dancers to collaborate with, I had to work out
technically what I was going to do. We needed to shoot
in a dance studio – photography studios as a
rule have concrete floors – and even here the
prospect of heavy lighting equipment, stands and scaffolding
poles, all of which I used, in nice clean polished
wooden floored danced studios was scary!
I
was shooting on film, partly because I prefer the
quality of it – its tonal range, and the grain.
Also because I prefer the process. It can be nerve
wracking because you can’t know at the time
exactly what you’ve caught on film, but the
upshot of that is that I stay entirely focused on
the dancers, what they are doing, and my relationship
with them while we are all working together.
In
the end I went for continuous light – where
usually, like most still photographers, I use flash.
However, flash can freeze movement and also could
well be distracting for the dancers. I was aiming
to create a pool of light large enough for them to
dance in, but with some areas lighter and darker.
Once
shooting, it was about exploring and then pursuing
what seemed most interesting. Sometimes I took a piece
of music or an idea as a start point, sometimes I
was inspired by the ways the dancers were moving,
sometimes I was more technical – I’d see
something on the polaroid I liked and would be directing
them very precisely to catch or hone that.
Where
can people find out more about you and your work?
On my website www.helenburrows.com
Interview by Victoria Blackburn
Skin
on Skin runs at ISTD2 Dance Studios from 5th July
to 6th October 2007
ISTD2
Dance Studios
346 Old Street
London EC1V 9NQ
Tel: 020 7739 9260
Open
daily
9am – 5.30pm Monday – Friday
9am – 6pm on Saturdays
10am – 6pm most Sundays
Please call to check building is open before your
visit
Entrance is free
helen@helenburrows.com
www.helenburrows.com/skinonskin
