The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden is a place like no other. Designed in a gracious Art Nouveau style and constructed in white marble with details in pure gold, the proud 100-year-old is built to impress both kings and queens. The theater houses seven stages where more than 1,000 performances are put on every year. Do the math and you realize it is a very, very busy place.
Enter Klara G, a Swedish photographer with a knack for creating quirky portraits with a classic yet theatrical feel. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Klara started her career as the Royal Dramatic Theatre’s in-house photographer.
A recent assignment saw Klara return to the place where it all started. The Royal Dramatic Theatre was putting on a new production of Fanny and Alexander, a popular play based on legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman’s film of the same name. New images to promote the new production were obviously needed, which is where Klara enters the stage, so to speak.
The shoot took place at the theater’s main stage just before the dress rehearsal. The actors were in full costume and eager to perform, resulting in Klara having less than an hour to get her shot before the curtain were scheduled to rise.
“Shooting group portraits on location is always challenging,” says Klara. “You never ever have enough time. So for me it all boils down to getting the most out the people in front of the camera in as short an amount of time as possible. My solution to that is to have a wide and even main light that allows me to forget about the flash and focus on the human element.”
The wide and even light was created with the help of two D1 Monolights that Klara had brought with her. Each monolight was equipped with an Umbrella Deep White XL. One of the two had the optional Diffuser attached and was positioned camera right. This was Klara’s main light. The other had no Diffuser and was used as fill.
The result was a soft and even light that put each and every member of the colorful cast in their best light.
“This way it doesn’t really matter if someone turns their head,” says Klara. “The light will be perfect at every angle.”
Learn more about The Royal Dramatic Theatre’s play Fanny and Alexander.
See more of Klara G’s work.
Learn more about the D1 Monolight and the Umbrella Deep.
Actors: Irene Lindh, Livia Millhagen, Thomas Hanzon, Bengt CW Carlsson, Reuben Sallmander, Kristina Törnqvist, Tanja Lorentzon, Maia Hansson Bergqvist, Dao Molander di Ponziano, Pelle Sandlin
Director: Stefan Larsson
Scenography: Rufus Didwiszus
Costume: Nina Sandström
Lights: Torben Lendorph
Hair & makeup: Sofia Ranow Boix-Vives, Lena Bouic-Wrange, Kjell Gustavsson
Dresser: Cecilia Ekström, Ulrika Lilliehöök, Erika Hagberg
