JL Williams
Art, dance, tronix, photography, etc.
Latest posts
The Second-Greatest American Ballet Choreographer You Never Heard Of
[Originally published in October 1995] Ask a balletomane to list some major American choreographers, and the odds are good that Lew Christensen will not be among the first that leap to mind. Thumb through a few general reference works — or even dance-specific ones — and you’re likely to find him mentioned only as a secondary entry, if at all. It’s not that Christensen is obscure.…
Posts by shill influencers just back from their Leica-paid M6 junkets got me feeling like…
Posts by shill influencers just back from their Leica-paid M6 junkets got me feeling like…
A Thrilling Reminder of What the “D” Stands For
TBD Dance Collective’s Movement III (repeats at 8:30 pm Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Kaneko) is its most dance -intensive dance production in years. It’s a welcome change of pace (and, I hope, a return to form) from TBD’s pandemic-era programming, which often seemed more focused on generating social media content than on providing a rewarding experience for the in-person audience.…
From the Files of the Tedious But Necessary Missions Force
This started, in the way these things often do, in an online comment thread about an episode of the old “Mission: Impossible” TV series that had been posted, probably illictly, on YouTube. Mind you, this was the old, old “Mission: Impossible”, before they got the urge to tinker with the formula and introduce mistakes and problems and character arcs and backstories and other kinds of the stuff that…
Dancers Are Not Unicorns
“Look, a unicorn! You didn’t expect to see that here, did you!” Unicorns are an attention-getting and appealing visual symbol. Inconveniently for the purposes of photography, they also are imaginary. But imagination-impaired photographers have found a substitute that’s almost as good: ballet dancers. Their timing was perfect. By shutting down performances and canceling the central ritual of daily…
Independence Day
Independence Day
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Empty places.
Empty places.
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Nora Carr, April 2021
Nora Carr, April 2021
Elena Carter standing in front of an eight-panel lacquer screen of the Kangxi period, at Joslyn Art…
Elena Carter standing in front of an eight-panel lacquer screen of the Kangxi period, at Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska USA, April 2021
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After midnight…
After midnight…
Yo, Vinnie… Congratulations! If you’re reading this, I assume it means you got clear of the cops….
Yo, Vinnie… Congratulations! If you’re reading this, I assume it means you got clear of the cops. I am still lying low, but don’t worry… I’ve got it fixed so you can get your share of the robbery money, no problem. All you need to do is go to the Big Iron Fitness Center at 17th and Farrell (it’s open 24 hrs - use code 6062 on keypad) and find locker #106 in…
Trying out Lomography Fantome 8 film. It is actually ORWO DP31, a film made for converting negatives…
Trying out Lomography Fantome 8 film. It is actually ORWO DP31, a film made for converting negatives to positive transparencies. It is very harsh, but sometimes I am in the mood for harsh.
Some older images I pulled out this week for World Ballet Day. A lot of commercial photographers…
Some older images I pulled out this week for World Ballet Day. A lot of commercial photographers idled by COVID-19 seem to have been thinking: “I need a self-promotional project to keep my name out there… I know, I’ll do a series of ballet dancers!” and then, knowing nothing about dance and not wanting to bother learning, proceed to grind out formulaic pictures of young women in…
Apartment Life. Not my apartment, not my life…
Apartment Life. Not my apartment, not my life…