Whitehot Magazine

November 2025

"The Best Art In The World"

"The Best Art In The World"
November 2025

Brad Walls’ PASSÉ: Degas meets De Stilj

Photo courtesy of the artist

By CLAUDIA October 4th, 2025

I went to the VIP opening of PASSÉ by Australian aerial photographer Brad Walls. For PASSÉ, lead dancers from The American Ballet Theatre, The New York City, Joffrey and Ballet East worked with Walls for theee years to complete the series of eight 60”x60” original photographs, of which 20”x20” prints of each were made in editions of 50.

Whitehot Magazine: This series took 3 years to complete; how does that compare time wise to your other work?

Brad Walls: Most of my projects are much shorter in scope, often completed in a matter of weeks or months. PASSÉ is the first time I’ve worked on something at this scale over such an extended period. The three years weren’t spent shooting continuously, it was about building the concept, sourcing dancers, securing space, and testing how to choreograph for the camera. Compared to my earlier work, this was more like mounting a production than simply planning a photoshoot.

WM: You also did a series with 6 dancers from The English National Ballet; 4 different companies? I imagine it wasn’t easy even just from a scheduling point.

BW: Correct, the hardest part was scheduling. When I first arrived in New York from Australia, I literally knocked on the doors of Ballet East and the Joffrey Ballet School. To my surprise, both schools jumped at the opportunity and contributed around 25 dancers each, which gave the project immediate momentum. On top of that, dancers from New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre also joined, with roughly five from each company bringing a more experienced dimension to the mix.

Despite coming from different institutions and backgrounds, everyone worked seamlessly together to bring the vision to life.

Photo courtesy of the artist

WM: Drones are something more usually associated with extreme sports than art photography; how did you start shooting like this with them?

BW: I started experimenting with drones about eight years ago. At first, I was fascinated by how they revealed patterns and symmetry in everyday environments, especially swimming pools. That perspective unlocked something for me creatively, I realized I could use aerial photography not just to document but to compose.

WM: So far you have focused on ballet dancers, baseball players, Olympic athletes and more; do you have any ideas for your next project?

BW: I’m always interested in the intersection of discipline, repetition, and aesthetics — that’s why athletes and dancers keep drawing me back. Right now, I’m exploring concepts that push beyond the stage and the field, using large groups in unexpected settings to create works that are both performance and composition. I can’t say too much yet, but I’m drawn to projects that challenge scale, where the human form becomes part of a larger visual system.

WM: What is it like performing when the audience is above you?

Sierra Armstrong of The American Ballet Theatre: In any photoshoot that I do I try to cater to the camera in the sense that the lines and angles I choose are as technically clear and flattering as possible. With Brad’s photography vision a lot of it is based on symmetry or asymmetry and spacing and formations in coherence with everyone else, as well as technique. We were placed in our spots and when the time came, we performed, and maybe surprisingly but not much changed for me when the drone was flying above- just knowing that the shot was taken from that angle but my energy and technique remained the same.

WM: How do you compare live performance to being a part of something tangible like these photographs?

SA: The two biggest differences between live performance and photoshoots is the audience and the fact that you have more than one shot to get it right (most of the time). While Brad’s photoshoot was not the normal photoshoot in the sense of the team of people he had and the production side of it all being in a warehouse, using a crane, and of course the drone, we had a limited amount of time but we did still get a couple of chances for each shot. And now we have these photos to look at and admire forever versus a live performance is more of a feeling the audience member may be kept with. WM

Photo courtesy of the artist