Using her camera to reflect dance as a sensitive art form, Petra Bober photographs dancers in their various roles, seeking out their personality, expressiveness, style and mood.

The art of dance is her passion. Describing herself as a quiet observer, she works in silence, endeavouring to capture the inner qualities of dancers; their transcendent abilities, powers of concentration and absolute dedication to their vocation.

Petra Bober, who was born in Germany, is based in Munich. However, her work takes her to the major international centres of dance – London, Paris, St. Petersburg (her picture of Natalia Makarova as Juliet hangs in the Theatre Museum), New York and Washington (where the Kirov Academy maintains her photographs of the group). Her images of the Kirov Ballet are especially well-known, and have been used to promote their London seasons at the Royal Opera House, and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

Petra has worked with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company; Maya-Plissetskaya’s master class; Baryshnikov’s White Oak Project; the Mark Morris Dance Group; the Martha Graham Dance Company; the Royal Ballet, and of course, the Kirov Ballet.

One of her latest project, was an exhibition entitled “Human Spirits of Artistic Depth – Present Generation of Graham Women” which ran at two New York venues: The Public Library for the Performing Arts in the Lincoln Centre, and the City Centre Theatre.

Entirely self-taught, Petra Bober prints her own black and white images and chooses not to use a digital camera or lighting, preferring “classical equipment” and available natural light. Her colour work involves filtering techniques that soft-edge the images, subtly merging them into the background.