Photographer’s Aerial Reimagining of Ballet Defies Expectations
Photographer Brad Walls is best known for his minimalist aerial compositions, and has undertaken his most ambitious project yet: combining large-scale choreography, immersive installation, and a rethinking of classical ballet from above.
In 2013, PetaPixel covered Walls’ first iteration of photographing ballet dancers via an aerial perspective, now refined with his latest work for PASSÉ, which opens later this week in New York City.
Set within a monochromatic red environment, PASSÉ is designed as a multisensory encounter. Visitors are invited to step directly into the performance space rather than view it at a distance. The exhibition begins with “The Red Room,” where guests walk along the original red carpet used during the photoshoot. Life-sized prints of dancers are positioned at eye level, a design choice meant to heighten intimacy and blur the boundaries between image and reality. Every element of the exhibition aims to place the audience at the center of the experience.
Scale and Production
The project took three years to complete and required a production on an unusual scale. In total, 60 dancers and a 10-person crew participated in an eight-hour session inside a cavernous warehouse. A football field–sized red carpet stretched across the floor to provide the stage, while an equally large light bounce hung above to create an even wash of diffused light. A custom-engineered crane rig stabilized Walls’ camera, allowing him to capture the dancers from directly overhead with precision.
The shoot involved more than 20 meticulously storyboarded compositions, each requiring choreography that could translate into clear geometric forms when seen from above. Of those, eight final works were completed, highlighting both the ambitious scope and the technical challenges of balancing movement, timing, and symmetry within such a large-scale setting.
Collaboration and Talent
Choreographer Ian Schwaner played a central role in shaping the project. Working closely with Walls, he developed movement sequences that merged classical ballet discipline with graphic design principles, ensuring that each formation carried visual weight when viewed from the aerial vantage point.
The cast drew from a vast pool of accomplished performers. Dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet School, and Ballet East were included, representing a range of backgrounds and training. Their participation brought not only technical precision but also a sense of collective artistry to the production, reinforcing PASSÉ as both a photographic and performative achievement.
Personal Connection
Beyond its large scale, PASSÉ emphasizes the personal connection between performers and audience. Each visitor to the exhibition will receive a handwritten postcard from one of the featured ballerinas, printed with imagery from the series. This tactile detail underscores the exhibition’s intent to transform spectators into participants, offering a memento that ties the work to individual experience.
Walls has described the project as a way to honor ballet not just for its pursuit of perfection but also for its emotional resonance. He recalls being inspired during an earlier shoot with ballerina Montana Rubin in 2021, when a group of young triplets responded with visible emotion to Rubin’s performance. For Walls, that moment revealed ballet’s ability to move viewers of all ages, and it informed his vision to create a work that collapses the traditional distance between stage and audience.
Exhibition and Release Details
PASSÉ will be open to the public from September 12 through September 14, at 347 Broome Street in New York. Its opening coincides with the launch of a limited sales window beginning September 11 at 6PM and running until the end of the day on September 14.
Eight original works will be available, each framed and presented as a unique one-of-one artwork in a 60-inch format. In addition, eight limited-edition pieces will be released, each offered in an edition of 50 at 20 inches, available both framed and unframed. This will be the sole opportunity for collectors to acquire works from the PASSÉ series in either format.
About the Artist
Brad Walls, born in 1992 in Sydney and now based in New York, has established himself as a visual artist who reimagines ordinary subjects through aerial photography. His minimalist style emphasizes symmetry, space, and form, transforming familiar scenes into abstract, yet evocative compositions.
He first drew international attention with his series Pools From Above, which captured swimmers and poolside environments from a bird’s-eye perspective. The project led to exhibitions worldwide, awards, and a growing collector base. With PASSÉ, Walls continues this trajectory, expanding his practice into a new medium that combines large-scale production, collaborative choreography, and immersive exhibition design.
A New Way of Seeing
With PASSÉ, Brad Walls invites audiences to reconsider how art is experienced, shifting the view from passive observation to active presence. By placing the viewer inside the frame, the exhibition reimagines ballet and reaffirms the power of perspective to transform our connection with performance, memory, and one another.
Image credits: Brad Walls
