  ois Greenfield has been photographing dance for 25 years. |
 Yet she doesn't consider herself a "dance photographer." |
Why not? "To me, that's someone who captures moments
of a performance. Or 'poses' the dancers for pictures. I'm
interested in movement, and how it can be interpreted
photographically. In fact, I photograph moments that could
not be part of a dance, and would not have existed otherwise."
Greenfield started as a photojournalist in Boston. While
covering the usual range of subjects, she got her first
dance assignment. When she moved to New York
City in 1973, she started specializing in dance
photography for the Village Voice and other publications.
"In the early '70s, dance was just achieving immense
popularity. I enjoyed the graphic potential of photographing
dance, and also found a ready market for the pictures.
But I was frustrated at my lack of control over the results."
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To achieve greater control, Greenfield changed the setting.
Instead of going to the dancers, she brought them to her
studio. "My assignments for the Voice constantly brought
new groups of dancers into my studio -- a new challenge
every week. The pictures had to be different, to astonish
the reader flipping though the newspaper."
The difference starts with Greenfield's observation that
"a great piece of choreography does not necessarily make
a great photograph." To capture the "spirit of the dance,"
she transforms it to meet the needs of the camera. For example,
dancers move across the frame, rather than toward or away
from the camera. "This keeps them clearly visible and in focus.
Gestures and actions are simplified to fit the frame."
Early in her career, Greenfield experimented with blurred
images to suggest motion. But she eventually went in the
opposite direction. "I'm interested in slicing a moment very
thin. To do it, I set the camera at a high shutter speed, and
set the flash units at 1/2000 second. The dancers seem to
defy gravity for just an instant. If you were watching the
dancers in my studio, you probably wouldn't 'see' the
moment I'm shooting." Greenfield does see it, of course,
thanks to years of experience, a great sense of timing,
and a strong ability to previsualize her images.
Greenfield's editorial clients include Sports Illustrated,
Time, Elle, Vogue, Life, and The New York Times
Magazine. Her photographs have been used in print ads
for Raymond Weil watches, DuPont fabrics, Cutty Sark
whiskey, Sony Music, and (naturally) Kodak. Greenfield
creates advertising and promotional photos for dance
companies around the world. She has also recently
begun directing TV commercials for dance
companies and Broadway shows.
Two books of Greenfield's work have been published by
Chronicle Books in the United States, and by Thames and
Hudson in Europe. They are: Breaking Bounds (1992) and
Airborne (1998). Her black-and-white prints have been
exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. Lois
Greenfield lives in New York with her husband,
Stuart Liebman, and their sons Alex and Jesse.