Playbill.com: Most of the world sees Broadway through the eyes of Joan Marcus. Since the early 1990s, Marcus has been the preeminent photographer who shoots the production photos you see in papers, magazines and on websites.
"I may take hundreds of pictures for each show," says Marcus, "but what I look for is the ones that tell the story of the play."
3 comments:
It is so interesting to read about another speciality that contributes to the theatrical world. Photography is another aspect to working on a show that goes beyond putting literally working on it. Joan Marcus has a huge responsibility to take pictures and to prove that a single show is worth seeing. It is incredibly difficult as it is to make someone see a film or TV show and the people that make trailers have all of 90 seconds. She has to embody the show in the most literal, visual way and catch someone's passing glance. It can be daunting but the theater community entrusts her and it is so nice to see someone acknowledge her work and her story. Her role also extends in the photography world when others look to her as a role model. Some of her images will become iconic and she could very well be the Milton Glaser in theatrical photography.
I've always wondered how production photographers got into the field of photography they did. It takes a lot of talent to take someone else's vision and inspiration and capture it in a single image of the production. That single image needs to attract audience members and accurately represent the show. Not all photographers are capable of it; I think that person needs to have some kind of arts background to truly understand.
As the first assignment in our Directing II class we are asked to bring in a picture that tells a story. You can usually find a story in any picture, but for Joan to so perfectly capture the entire story of the plays she photographs is really quite amazing. Her photos have become so iconic and are inseparably linked to the shows that they're from. Also, for her to constantly be so fresh and involved with the sheer number of shows she photographs is a testament for her eye and ability to tell a story.
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