Theatre, movies and the photographer who loves them
Often the first thing seen of a new film is the images captured by the on-set photographer. It's a specialist vocation that requires creativity, spontaneity and diplomacy. Alumna Lisa Tomasetti has all three.
One of Lisa's most famous photographs, an NYPD police officer standing next to a ballet dancer from the Australian Ballet.
There are times when it can be hard to squeeze into the schedule of Lisa Tomasetti (MDP 鈥�12).
When SAM contacted her, she was working on two television series in Sydney (she can鈥檛 disclose their titles) and preparing a series of eight large-scale images for the 2019 Head On Photo Festival, which displays photographic works in public spaces and galleries across the city.
鈥淢y life is not normally this crazy,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut all these TV series and films suddenly just came up. Sometimes it鈥檚 really busy and sometimes it鈥檚 not. It鈥檚 a great problem to have.鈥�
Lisa Tomasetti is a photographer who specialises in documenting the arts. You鈥檝e probably seen her work without realising it. She was the on-set photographer for Star Wars: Episode II, the acclaimed drama Top of the Lake, beloved comedy, Kath and Kim, and the recent . And as Geoffrey Rush bounced joyously on a trampoline in the movie Shine, it was Tomasetti鈥檚 photograph that became the iconic poster image.
Tomasetti also brings visual wit, beauty and wonder as the international tour photographer for the Australian Ballet.
Despite this successful career, Tomasetti says she 鈥渉onestly can鈥檛 remember鈥� how she found her way into photography. What is clear, though, is that it has given her a way to stay in the performing arts, which was the centre of her family life as a child.
Every school holiday, Tomasetti swapped pencils for greasepaint, taking to the stage to act in pantomimes organised by her parents鈥� theatre company in Adelaide.
Lisa Tomasetti.
She never felt comfortable on stage though, and when she was 15 she gave up acting. But as her subsequent career shows, she didn鈥檛 stray too far from the arts.
鈥淚 grew up with actors,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 feel really comfortable around them and I really respect them and what they do.鈥�
Stills photography is crucial yet mostly anonymous work, and Tomasetti says it requires certain characteristics as well as the usual technical skills.
鈥淵ou need to get on well with everybody and you can鈥檛 be a pest,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou also have to sense when there鈥檚 tension on the set, and read actors so you can say to yourself, 鈥業 might just have to let that one go鈥�.鈥�
Tomasetti came to the University at a time when she says she needed an environment to nurture her artistically. She completed a master鈥檚 degree in documentary photography, studying the history and theory of photography. 鈥淚 really loved having lecturers I could have discussions with. It was great to have like-minded people around and talk about your work and their work.鈥�
For all she鈥檚 done, she sees working with the ballet as her 鈥渄ream job鈥�, yet she is driven to craft her own works, saying 鈥渋t鈥檚 my own way of looking at the world鈥�.
Tomasetti鈥檚 large-scale photographs, which are included in collections at the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of South Australia, often feature her daughter, whom she describes as her muse.
鈥淚 feel like when I do my visual arts work, it has to be on a grander scale,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t needs to refine the lighting like the grand masters, and hopefully tell a different story so you don鈥檛 get people in galleries thinking: 鈥業 could have taken that鈥�.鈥�
A selection of Lisa's photos
See more incredible photographs
To see more of Lisa's work in dance, opera, film and visual arts, head to her website at聽
Written by Gabriel Wilder
Photography by Lisa Tomasetti