Playbill: One of the theatre's busiest photographers is Jeremy Daniel, who actually started his career as a Broadway publicist, representing more than two dozen Broadway shows as well as numerous Off-Broadway productions.
After 16 years in the publicity field, Daniel's passion turned to theatrical photography, and since 2008 he has photographed dozens of shows on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and on tour throughout the country.
3 comments:
This was a really interesting interview for a wide variety of reasons, not he least of which is how little you hear about this role, and yet how much you see the production photos of a show--oftentimes, it is the only thing you see unless you watch it live. It also highlighted how everyone's path getting into theater and going through it is different, and you never really know where you will end up. There were also some very good points later in the article: don't let your first time seeing a show be the time you are working on it; watch the tech rehearsal or designer run, or at least be prepared for your roll. Also, understanding that rejection is a thing that will happen, no matter your path, and you have to move on from it and know the next opportunity will come. Overall, this was a really interesting and in-depth interview combining multiple of my passions.
Jeremy Daniel’s story of working from the bottom up to stumbling into a hobby turned dream career is really inspiring to see. Daniel’s story is really a great example to me of why you should say yes to everything, take every chance. If he didn’t take the first job to photograph a show he may never have done it professionally and stayed a publicist. Theatre is such a grand and wide community, where you can make so many connections and Daniel is a prime example of how networking gets you places. Daniel also made a very strong statement when it came to views on AI. Daniel conceded that yes AI does make our lives easier and that's certainly helpful at times but that does not mean we should forget the skills and artistry we have honed. I agree with his views that within limits AI can actually be an extremely helpful tool but also we should not become lazy when things can be done for us. That is how we lose our independence as humans.
I really like articles like this, because they highlight someone who contributes to theatre in a promotional and advertising way yet rarely gets mentioned compared to the writers and actors. I don't think people understand how important a show photographer is, not only for promotion but also for giving the audience a glimpse of what the show looks like!
Hearing that Jeremy took the darkroom class is really refreshing. I minored in photography in undergrad and took a darkroom class too, and I loved it. Darkroom experience genuinely makes people better at photography because of all the little details you have to consider.
The privilege of being a publicist who gets to shoot the show, watching it over and over without paying and while being paid, sounds amazing!! I also love his point that after watching the tech rehearsal he knows what to expect during the show, so he can anticipate his shots rather than react to them.
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