New School Opera

I was asked to photograph The students on the Advanced Opera Course at Dartington International Summer School who were performing an amazing version of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, conducted by Steven Devine and Directed by Tim Hopkins with an early 90's costume theme by designer Giulia Scrimieri. 

It was a fully staged performance of Purcell’s first and only all-sung opera. The love story of Dido, Queen of Carthage and the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair at his abandonment of her.

The costumes reminded me of growing up in the late 80's early 90's and the terrible clothes I was wearing in my old school photographs from that period. Photographer Kate Mount and I were already using a mottled backdrop for another project which I will show shortly (still editing). This backdrop reminded us of those school photos so we decided to place the opera students in their costume in front of the backdrop to recreate that old school look. I asked the Opera stars to act a scene with pretty dramatic effect!