In 1975 I worked on a documentary team photographing Yani Novak's creation of dances to be performed in and around the U.C. Berkeley Museum. The title, BOKO-MARU VARIATIONS, was derived from a religion in a Kurt Vonnegut novel. One dance, Parallel Lines, intrigued me and I chose to photograph it during the performance.
The Parallel Lines performers were moving on a 3 foot wide, bright orange shelf suspended from the grey concrete wall, perhaps a little above eye level. A second shelf created an orange parallel line above them and was raised and lowered by ropes and pulleys, keeping it just above the dancers' heads. The bottom section of the museum, which is where the performance took place, is three stories high and lit, I believe, by a skylight. I was positioned with my back against the opposite wall, using a tripod. There was no music. The audience stood or sat on the floor. Some just glanced at the dancers and then walked on by. The motion was continuous. There was no second chance to take a picture. I shot 4 rolls of film.
I have exhibited unmanipulated photographs from the series since 1975. Twenty-one years later I made 20 solarized negatives from the series. They are 5" x 7" and are contact printed for exhibitions. Solarization often emphasizes the sculptural aspects of an image. Sometimes the results look like charcoal drawings, sometimes like cast metal. I find the metamorphosed result very exciting.