Issued by Olympus:
'Off Pointe’ - Mary McCartney-Donald’s Photographic Debut Exhibited By Olympus
Mary McCartney-Donald’s first public foray into exhibition photography is to be unveiled at the Royal Opera House on Wednesday 13th October 2004 at 6.30pm.
The eagerly anticipated ‘Off Pointe’ exhibition, supported by Olympus, shadows members of The Royal Ballet corps ‘off stage’ and is being hailed as Mary’s coming of age work. Insiders claim it shows a maturity and eye beyond her years.
Mary has an obvious love of photography which stems from her childhood and her mother, Linda McCartney, who never went anywhere without her camera on her shoulder. Although this is the first time that Mary has displayed her work in public, she demonstrates a real insight into her subject matter. Her ease with the camera takes us ‘behind the curtain’ to candidly capture the dancers in their private moments.
The idea for the exhibition first came about when Mary met Vanessa Fenton, choreographer and member of the corps de ballet, in a Soho bar. She was intrigued by the contrast between the gruelling, painful lifestyle with the fairy tale performance.
Teaming up with Olympus, Mary approached The Royal Ballet for permission to follow the company for three months – including an extremely inspirational period in New York. Photographs taken here expose in graphic detail the reality of the dancers’ world.
“I was extremely fortunate to get a glimpse of the blood, sweat, tears and laughter that make up a Royal Ballet tour. I have shot portraits of musical figures my entire career but this was a very different and moving experience.
“I was determined to work in digital for this show. It gave me the flexibility and confidence to shoot far more than I would have done on film. I like the juxtaposition of photographing one of the oldest forms of performance art on the very latest technologies,” says Mary. (you may need to get a different quote as ballet in comparison to other art forms is relatively young (the first academy of dance was in 1661 and ballet didn’t really make an impact on the UK until the 1900’s)
Andy Parker, Marketing Communications Manager at Olympus said,” We were delighted when the chance arose to work with a talent such as Mary. We were eager for her to test out the Olympus E-1 Digital SLR system in such an unusual environment and she’s really got the best out of the camera, as the shots from her portfolio clearly show.”
Olympus is committed to supporting both budding and established photographers through their traditional and digital camera technologies. In the past year Olympus has worked with the likes of David Bailey, James Gooding Amelia Troubridge and Lord Lichfield.
For more information on Olympus visit www.olympus.co.uk. Also, from the 13th October, there will be a chance to view Mary’s images on the gallery section of the same website. The photos from the exhibition will be on display in the foyer of the Royal Opera House for a month after the opening. For further information about exhibitions, performances and The Royal Ballet visit www.royaloperahouse.org.
