For his first book, photographer Matthew Brookes has turned his lens upon the professional male ballet dancers of Paris. Over the course of a year, he took these dancers out of their regular environment of rehearsals and performances and photographed them in a raw space in which they were allowed to explore the physicality of dance in its purest form. This series of portraits depicts the dancers' responses upon being asked to interpret birds falling from the sky. The introduction is by Parisian prima ballerina Marie-Agnès Gillot, who has worked with these dancers over the years and watched them grow and develop. Brookes was born in England, grew up in South Africa, and is presently based between Paris and New York.
Featured image is reproduced from Matthew Brookes: Les Danseurs.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
WWD
Miles Socha
Yet Brookes...is inspired by how these unassuming young men summon wonder and awe as they twist and leap into all manner of improvised shapes and controtions, most of them deliberately unclassical.
WWD
Miles Socha
Toes point toward the heavens in one image, torso crumples over a bent knee in another, the dancers are pictured with a plain canvas backdrop wearing black tights or shorts — leaving nothing to distract from their feats.
vogue.co.uk
Suzy Menkes
British photographer Matthew Brookes - whose powerful study of male dancers, Les Danseurs, is published in the autumn - brought these women and their different characters to life in his images.
Dance Spirit Magazine
Margaret Fuhrer
Les Danseurs Is a Book of Beautiful Ballet Man Candy
CNN Photos
Benazir Wehelie
Shooting in black and white, Brookes captures creativity in its most raw and intimate form.
FORMAT: Hbk, 8.5 x 11.25 in. / 72 pgs / illustrated throughout. LIST PRICE: U.S. $45.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $60 ISBN: 9788862084338 PUBLISHER: Damiani AVAILABLE: 9/29/2015 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Damiani. Introduction by Marie-Agnès Gillot
For his first book, photographer Matthew Brookes has turned his lens upon the professional male ballet dancers of Paris. Over the course of a year, he took these dancers out of their regular environment of rehearsals and performances and photographed them in a raw space in which they were allowed to explore the physicality of dance in its purest form. This series of portraits depicts the dancers' responses upon being asked to interpret birds falling from the sky. The introduction is by Parisian prima ballerina Marie-Agnès Gillot, who has worked with these dancers over the years and watched them grow and develop. Brookes was born in England, grew up in South Africa, and is presently based between Paris and New York.
