The Ring Cycle, Seattle Opera
A Fragment of History on Exposed: The Performer Backstage
Fine art photographer, Michele Wambaugh, is the first photographer to document the backstage milieu of over 40 major dance, theatre and opera companies, in North America and Europe, including musicals on Broadway and London stages. (Other photographers have photographed the backstage scene during the 1980-90's but they all concentrated on only one company and used B&W.) Her color series began in 1979 quite modestly in the classrooms of the Oakland Ballet Company. During the years Wambaugh lived in the San Francisco Bay Area (until ’91) she worked with local companies, as well as, visited many European theatres. She stated, “Some of my finest work was done with the companies I established long-term working relations with, like the San Francisco and Oakland Ballets. I loved working with those artistic directors who understood what I was trying to do, like Ronn Guidi. And it certainly wasn’t trying to capture a perfect pirouette.” Backstage was first exhibited in 1980 at the Oakland Museum featuring the Oakland Ballet. By 1982 the body of work included images from Europe and was shown at The Focus Gallery in San Francisco and featured on TV news.
In these historic, golden-hued images, Wambaugh has captured the character of individual performers behind their persona, the lyricism of bodies during: warm up and preparation, the dressing room, camaraderie and backstage excitement, loneliness, concentration & exhaustion, most elements that are always hidden from an audience. “People always ask me how I get backstage,” Wambaugh repeats. “It was never easy, obviously I was very persistent. But some places took six months to arrange.” In Vienna at the Staatsoper, she made history by being the very first photographer ever allowed to record their backstage and thus discovered what a rare privilege it was to document backstage. “I was drawn to this magical world in quest of the color photograph perfectly defining the beauty, tension and great discipline of talent in its most fleeting moment. With each performance I would bite off the challenges: drastically changing light, sudden movement of performers or stage sets. I worked with gusto and hope for a few evocative images. Somehow I was always lucky.”
Degree of difficulty was one reason Canon Cameras of Tokyo featured Wambaugh’s Backstage three times in their international multi-language tech magazine, The Canon Chronicle. Surmounting a myriad of technical difficulties, both inherent in film of the ‘80's-90’s & printing proved to be most difficult problems as this series was shot on Ektachrome 400 then pushed to 800 ASA. Fast film was necessary due to the moving subjects and lack of light. And of course, no flash was ever allowed backstage! There was no control over subjects or lights. “It’s really crazy,” the artist admits, ”This is like sports photography only without light.” But this lack allowed her to bend the mood of images using color, body line or facial expressions. “I feel that ultimately my series humanizes performance by unmasking the performers in their private moments before and during their work. Viewers at my exhibitions are always excited and amazed at the juxtaposition of the costumed persona with such intimacy.” Priscilla Hexter, curator of ProArts, Stanford University wrote, “Wambaugh’s series makes interesting comment on reality vs. unreality …She finds and reveals a different kind of beauty.” In today’s often violent world, it is increasingly difficult to find urban documentaries featuring upbeat beautiful themes. And now with the passage of time, Backstage has become an historic piece on theater.
Selected Solo Museum Exhibitions of Backstage:
2003 Backstage Around the World, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi
2002 Exposed: the Performer Backstage, Washington County Museum of Art, MD
2001 Exposed: the Performer Backstage, McNay Museum, San Antonio, TX
2000 Backstage, All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society, New Delhi, INDIA
Backstage, FotoFest, Wells Fargo Bank, Houston, TX
1999 Nutcracker Backstage, Creative Arts Guild, Performing Arts Center, Dalton, GA
1997 Exposed: The Performer Backstage, American University of Art, Atlanta, GA
1996 Exposed: The Dancer Backstage, Atlanta Group Photography Gallery
1995 Exposed: The Nutcracker Backstage, Hunterdon County Arts Ctr, Clinton, NJ
1994 Exposed: The Performer Backstage, Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ
Exposed: The Dancer Backstage, National Museum of Dance, NY
Nutcracker and Friends, Monmouth Museum, Monmouth, NJ
Exposed: The Performer Backstage, The DuPont Building, Wilmington, DE
1993 Backstage in the West & Beyond, Kings County Art Ctr, Hanford, CA
1988 Backstage, Stanford University ProArts, Stanford, CA
1987 Backstage Ballet, Olive Hyde Galley, City of Fremont, CA
1986 Backstage, Civic Center Arts Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
1982 Backstage Ballet, The Focus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1980 Backstage/Onstage, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
Collections:
Southland, Corp. TX; USA and European Dance Company Archives; Performing Arts Centers;
Helen Johnston Memorial Collection and private individuals, Houston, East & West Coasts
Honors and Appointments:
2010 Marquis’ Who’s Who in American Art (Lifetime)
2004 Visiting Professor, Utkal Culture University, Bhubaneswar, INDIA
2009 Visiting Professor, Osmania University, Hyderabad, INDIA
2003-7 Mayoral appointee, Board Member Civic Art Committee, Houston, TX
(C) all rights 2023 Michele Wambaugh
Fine art photographer, Michele Wambaugh, is the first photographer to document the backstage milieu of over 40 major dance, theatre and opera companies, in North America and Europe, including musicals on Broadway and London stages. (Other photographers have photographed the backstage scene during the 1980-90's but they all concentrated on only one company and used B&W.) Her color series began in 1979 quite modestly in the classrooms of the Oakland Ballet Company. During the years Wambaugh lived in the San Francisco Bay Area (until ’91) she worked with local companies, as well as, visited many European theatres. She stated, “Some of my finest work was done with the companies I established long-term working relations with, like the San Francisco and Oakland Ballets. I loved working with those artistic directors who understood what I was trying to do, like Ronn Guidi. And it certainly wasn’t trying to capture a perfect pirouette.” Backstage was first exhibited in 1980 at the Oakland Museum featuring the Oakland Ballet. By 1982 the body of work included images from Europe and was shown at The Focus Gallery in San Francisco and featured on TV news.
In these historic, golden-hued images, Wambaugh has captured the character of individual performers behind their persona, the lyricism of bodies during: warm up and preparation, the dressing room, camaraderie and backstage excitement, loneliness, concentration & exhaustion, most elements that are always hidden from an audience. “People always ask me how I get backstage,” Wambaugh repeats. “It was never easy, obviously I was very persistent. But some places took six months to arrange.” In Vienna at the Staatsoper, she made history by being the very first photographer ever allowed to record their backstage and thus discovered what a rare privilege it was to document backstage. “I was drawn to this magical world in quest of the color photograph perfectly defining the beauty, tension and great discipline of talent in its most fleeting moment. With each performance I would bite off the challenges: drastically changing light, sudden movement of performers or stage sets. I worked with gusto and hope for a few evocative images. Somehow I was always lucky.”
Degree of difficulty was one reason Canon Cameras of Tokyo featured Wambaugh’s Backstage three times in their international multi-language tech magazine, The Canon Chronicle. Surmounting a myriad of technical difficulties, both inherent in film of the ‘80's-90’s & printing proved to be most difficult problems as this series was shot on Ektachrome 400 then pushed to 800 ASA. Fast film was necessary due to the moving subjects and lack of light. And of course, no flash was ever allowed backstage! There was no control over subjects or lights. “It’s really crazy,” the artist admits, ”This is like sports photography only without light.” But this lack allowed her to bend the mood of images using color, body line or facial expressions. “I feel that ultimately my series humanizes performance by unmasking the performers in their private moments before and during their work. Viewers at my exhibitions are always excited and amazed at the juxtaposition of the costumed persona with such intimacy.” Priscilla Hexter, curator of ProArts, Stanford University wrote, “Wambaugh’s series makes interesting comment on reality vs. unreality …She finds and reveals a different kind of beauty.” In today’s often violent world, it is increasingly difficult to find urban documentaries featuring upbeat beautiful themes. And now with the passage of time, Backstage has become an historic piece on theater.
Selected Solo Museum Exhibitions of Backstage:
2003 Backstage Around the World, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi
2002 Exposed: the Performer Backstage, Washington County Museum of Art, MD
2001 Exposed: the Performer Backstage, McNay Museum, San Antonio, TX
2000 Backstage, All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society, New Delhi, INDIA
Backstage, FotoFest, Wells Fargo Bank, Houston, TX
1999 Nutcracker Backstage, Creative Arts Guild, Performing Arts Center, Dalton, GA
1997 Exposed: The Performer Backstage, American University of Art, Atlanta, GA
1996 Exposed: The Dancer Backstage, Atlanta Group Photography Gallery
1995 Exposed: The Nutcracker Backstage, Hunterdon County Arts Ctr, Clinton, NJ
1994 Exposed: The Performer Backstage, Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ
Exposed: The Dancer Backstage, National Museum of Dance, NY
Nutcracker and Friends, Monmouth Museum, Monmouth, NJ
Exposed: The Performer Backstage, The DuPont Building, Wilmington, DE
1993 Backstage in the West & Beyond, Kings County Art Ctr, Hanford, CA
1988 Backstage, Stanford University ProArts, Stanford, CA
1987 Backstage Ballet, Olive Hyde Galley, City of Fremont, CA
1986 Backstage, Civic Center Arts Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
1982 Backstage Ballet, The Focus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1980 Backstage/Onstage, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
Collections:
Southland, Corp. TX; USA and European Dance Company Archives; Performing Arts Centers;
Helen Johnston Memorial Collection and private individuals, Houston, East & West Coasts
Honors and Appointments:
2010 Marquis’ Who’s Who in American Art (Lifetime)
2004 Visiting Professor, Utkal Culture University, Bhubaneswar, INDIA
2009 Visiting Professor, Osmania University, Hyderabad, INDIA
2003-7 Mayoral appointee, Board Member Civic Art Committee, Houston, TX
(C) all rights 2023 Michele Wambaugh