Ballet Idaho Principal Dancer: Adrienne Kerr

Adrienne and I had followed each other for a bit on Instagram, and one day I made a comment on one of her ballet photos. She replied, “We should shoot sometime!” This made me feel super cool because usually, it is I who reaches out to people for photoshoots. Let alone, the principal dancer from Ballet Idaho making the request is something of an honor to me.

During our discussion, Adrienne asked me what I was interested in creating. I told her that I wanted to hopefully do a photoshoot she hasn’t really done before—something maybe she had seen and wanted to try out. I assumed that as the principal dancer has had tons of photoshoots during her career. She appreciated the thought, and we decided on this “behind the scenes” look, but to do it for real during a show. There was a show we tried for in October, but it didn’t pan out. She then suggested doing this during Ballet Idaho’s yearly showing, “The Nutcracker.” We agreed on a date that worked for both of us, and she arranged for us to do this photoshoot in her dressing room. This was in-between shows, and I had roughly 45 minutes with Adrienne while she completed her preparation for playing the “Sugarplum Fairy.”

I ran with a few cameras during this shoot, but another thing she requested was that I use film. She had seen my previous work with Jessica, Kylie, and Kaelyn, and she had never had ballet photos taken with that medium before. I obliged and was happy to bring a few rolls of Kentmere 400 film and a roll of 10-year-old expired Kodak T-Max 400! The photos below were taken on a Bronica SQ-Ai, which shoots 6x6 squares. Then, the roll of T-Max 400 was shot with a Nikon L35AF2 point-and-shoot camera. I pushed the rolls of Kentmere to ISO 1600. I wanted a contrasty look and didn’t mind the minimal grain. Even though it was on a tripod, I just didn’t want slower shutter speeds and to introduce any motion blur. It was the greatest decision, and I don’t regret it one bit. With the 35mm point-and-shoot, I aimed to achieve that '90s flash look. I was hoping for a more timeless aesthetic rather than a modern photo.