The Digital Capture of Light

I have been photographing Bharatanatyam performances for the past few years. By watching and observing a number of performances, I have honed my skill to anticipate the poses and be ready to take the photo at the appopriate time. Even then, sometimes the dancer doesn't allow the use of flash and photography becomes tougher given the unique lighting conditions on stage.

Recently, I had the chance to photograph two other forms of Indian classical dances, Kathak and Kuchipudi. Sunanda Nair, a Bharatanatyam instructor her in Houston had brought over two artistes from India to showcase their dance styles.

Uma Dogra is an exponent of Kathak, a dance from Uttar Pradesh. Unlike most other classical forms I've seen, the emphasis is on the beat of the foot. Infact, Ms Dogra compared the dance to tapdance and said it also had elements of jazz to it! As a photographer it is almost impossible to capture the essence of the foot movement on camera, but what can be captured is the twirling of the skirt as the dancer spins around.


The other dance form of the day was Kuchipudi, performed by Vyjayanthi Kashi. Kuchipudi has a lot of elements of Bharatanatyam, as they were developed in neighboouring states, Bharatanatyam in Tamil Nadu and Kuchipudi in Andhra Pradesh. Hence it was easier to photograph this dance form as I could expect the timing of the poses.