Dancing in Isolation

Fashion Photography graduate, Tom J. Johnson, has been commissioned by the Royal Opera House in London to carry out a virtual shoot promoting their first live performance since lockdown started.    

Due to social distancing Tom had a short window of opportunity with dancers Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales, and choreographer Wayne McGregor.  

Tom said:

It was a challenging shoot because I had just a 20-minute window to capture the images virtually using a phone and a tripod. This meant I had little to no control over the environment and had to pay particular attention to the movement and shapes of the dancers.

The high-profile commission arose from Tom’s personal lockdown documentary project, Dancing in Isolation, which included a series of virtual shoots with dancers from different disciplines around the world. The entire project was shot virtually but helped him stay creative, and build and maintain new relationships during lockdown.   

Tom added: “The press team at the Royal Opera House came across my ‘Dancing in Isolation’ series through Francesca Hayward and reached out to me to see whether I'd document the rehearsal process virtually as I had been doing for the series, which was a first for the Royal Opera House.” 

Tom is currently working on several projects with performers and London agencies, as well as an exciting new project with DANZA&DANZA magazine in Milan.  

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