Photography had always been part of Johan's life, although this interest wasn't commonly known in the Royal Ballet. He had taken a two year course while at the National Ballet School and was the photographer for their Year Book, taking shots during class, rehearsal and performances (but only when he wasn't dancing!). In essence, this was a sort of dress rehearsal for the book he has just completed. Throughout his career, he continued taking pictures while working for the National Ballet of Canada, when they were on tour, for instance, or of friends working on stage. 'I knew when I stopped that was what I was going to do. It was great that school covered something else that I was really interested in. I was lucky that way.'
The book of photographs was his idea, 'although I never thought anyone would go for it'. While recovering from his first operation, he'd taken photos of rehearsals and of dancers 'hanging about'; he showed these around while recovering from his second operation. He hadn't seen any Royal Ballet pictures of this type for a while and someone from publications suggested putting them together for a book. After thinking about it over the summer (at this point he was still on crutches), he drew up a proposal, put it forward to Tony Hall - and began practising his speech. Fortunately, after looking through the proposal, Tony Hall was really interested: instead of seeing just the polished performance on stage, audiences could see what it was really like to be a dancer. The Opera House has an affiliation with Oberon Books so, once Johan had got the go-ahead, the project could begin.
How did the dancers feel? 'They were great!' He spoke to the whole company at the start of the 2002/2003 season, since many of them hadn't seen him wielding a camera before, and explained the project. He made it clear that he wanted the project to be very transparent; they really could see the pictures and say, 'I don't want that one.' And he wanted the photos to say something about them as people. Of course, knowing everyone in the company was a big help to Johan; it also made the project something of a company venture. And, after seeing some of the early photos, the dancers seemed pleased. 'I didn't have one dancer turn down a picture,' he says, with some pride. Originally he had planned to give much more information on each shot, but it was gradually decided to let the photos speak for themselves.
Capturing the images he wanted was very much a case of being in the right place at the right time. One day Johan saw Darcey preparing her shoes just outside the rehearsal room; the light was streaming in through the window and he thought it would be a great shot. But by the time he'd got his camera ready, Darcey had gone into rehearsal and the moment was lost. A little later Johan passed through the rest area with his camera and there was Darcey sitting in the same place - tutu propped up - preparing her shoes for the next rehearsal. The right place once again - and also the right time.
Originally he had intended to limit the book to 100 images, but it grew and grew. Johan kept expecting the publisher to decide which pictures to keep, but no-one seemed worried about the number of photos he was sending them. In the end, though, there were far too many to print and it was Johan himself who had to choose - and the book came out with 161 images. Choosing the title was difficult, but he finally decided, 'It had to be what it was. So let's call it however many pictures there are in the book.' (And made sure they double-checked the number of photos before they printed the book!) The title had been chosen before the company left for their Russian tour, so he knew how many shots he needed to take there - which was hard, in a way, because he didn't know what the tour would be like.
His publishers, Oberon, have a connection with the National Theatre and they thought it would be perfect to have an exhibition of dance photography while 'The Play without Words' was on. This worked out really well, though now Johan had another problem: cutting the images from 161 to a mere 60. Deciding what to put where and how they fitted together (the book had been divided into ballets) was also very hard. He was really pleased with the way the pictures looked on the wall and surprised by how good they looked after being blown up to poster size. The opening reception was well attended by members of the company and he is grateful for their support (even though they weren't very good at telling him in advance that they were going to be there!) He knew he could count on Jaimie, of course, but wasn't at all sure who else would be present. He has been stunned by the publicity that the book and exhibition have attracted and pleased to get some recognition in his new career. He's just done an interview for EOS magazine - they had heard he uses a Canon EOS camera - which he never thought would happen.
Does he miss his old career? Well, the buzz from getting a great shot isn't quite the same as the one you get from a good performance on stage ... but he doesn't get the lows that dancers so often experience. Perhaps he does still miss dancing, especially in roles that he really enjoyed. Fortunately, however, he only really feels this way while watching a performance - and hardly at all when there's a camera in his hand.
Since finishing the book, Johan's camera has rarely been far away. He's continued taking photos (both of rehearsals and performances) for the Royal Ballet and done new work for the Royal Ballet School. He's freelancing just now and may go back to Canada to do the Year Book for the National Ballet of Canada (who have been in touch since seeing 161 Images).
Wherever Johan goes you can be sure he'll always be looking for that elusive photograph: one just that little bit different from any he's seen before. We wish him the best of luck... and many, many good images.
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