Dark, Wet & Noisy with Eszter + David
San Francisco-based photography duo Eszter Marosszeky and David Matheson certainly have a knack for capturing unique, human poses. Their diverse portfolio depicts athletes twisted and contorted, tradespeople hard at work, families amid the majesty of nature, and even more examples of people being people, with all the beauty and complexity that entails.
A pair of recent ambitious photo projects falls into the first category: both shoots involved a sixteen-foot trampoline, and a whole lot of water. First, the photo duo collaborated with Easton Lacrosse General Manager Doug Appleton to convince lacrosse star Mike Powell to show off his stuff. The second shoot was done for cancer awareness non-profit Get In Front, and Eszter and David recruited a super talented slew of dancers from the San Francisco Ballet and Alonzo King Lines to pose for their cameras.
The sessions were shot in their studios, some of them during an “Open Studio” event (where San Francisco artists open their studios to the general public to view their work, and in this case watch a photo shoot in progress). Preplanning was key, as Eszter and David knew that dark, wet, and noisy can be less than ideal conditions for photography. As part of their preparation, the two rigged up some garden hoses and even more sprinklers to the studio ceiling. They played with different lighting to get the perfect feel, but after that there was still more work to be done: they needed to figure out how to safely contain the falling water so their landlord didn’t void their lease!
Once the shooting conditions were ideal (and risk-free), Eszter and David began to shoot their subjects twisting, turning, and posing in mid-air as water cascaded down around them from the ceiling. During the shoot a live audience of onlookers watched as the photographers battled loud fans, exhausted dancers, and the difficulties inherent in being understood through fairly thick Aussie accents—and, of course, everything was wet.
Despite the chaotic nature of the shoot, there’s a singular peaceful beauty in the final photographs: something about the water droplets frozen in place around the front-lit dancers makes them the perfect crystalline complement to the chiseled perfection of their human forms.
The photographers love the creative opportunities that using a trampoline for a shoot affords them, and they’ve used a similar concept for many other projects. “What I love about using the trampoline is that it affords a lot more freedom for the subject, and tons more latitude for the photographer,” explains David. And creatives love it too: The duo’s raw talent and the fun and beauty of their shoots have clients jumping at the opportunity to work with them.
Click here to check out a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot and see more of Eszter and David’s work.