'Raise' (left) and 'Wot'.

Howard Moo-Young, Contributor

It was not by accident that Monica DaSilva became involved in photography, as a teenager in the '50s, she started taking photographs of her friends with a Kodak Brownie camera, but she always liked the movies from she was a child at the age of seven years old.

In 1979 her good friend who was the editor of the magazine Jamaica Pictorial asked her to shoot some photographs. By then, she had become a mother and started taking many photographs of her children, particularly those of her eldest son. She then started doing cultural photographs for magazines in 1979.

While employed at the then JBC TV, she had the opportunity to photograph various individuals including Michael Manley, Ossie Harvey and many actors during Don Bucknor's Productions. She remembers doing photos during Oliver at Large and other plays, while performing as a member of the Jamaica Folk Singers.

Photographed show

During the 1982 season, she found herself performing onstage, but wanted to be on the other side - photographing the performers. Olive Lewin and Neville Black mounted such a beautiful production that she had to capture it on camera. She was given permission to miss one performance and photograph the show.

When Neville Black saw the results of her photos, he was impressed and invited her to shoot the dance with Movements. This allowed her to also cover the Festival Costume Queen competitions, with many beautiful winners designed by Nancy McLean.

She then asked permission to photograph the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) and then was able to join L'Acadco, where she progressed as a photographer in the dance world. She also got involved in the Jamaica School of Dance and other aspects of Jamaica's cultural heritage, which was not really been documented at the time.

Kept proper file

In getting ready to produce her book, DaSilva always kept a proper file along with various programmes from the dance performances with important details in her own handwriting. All the photographs which form the basis of her new book Seasons of Dance: The Story of Jamaican Dance Theatre spans 20 years from 1982 to 2002. This meant that some serious editing had to be done.

The book finishes with the NDTC 2002 Season of Dance in celebration of their 40 anniversary. She was asked by the director to document this performance over a period of one month during which she shot over 45 rolls of film.

She was never trained as a photographer, never attended a photography school, but believes that as a film editor, sitting down for years and years viewing hundreds of movies for public viewing on the TV station, she learnt about composition and lighting. She also understood the use of various lenses for different situations. She carefully shows the scenes and certain individual dancers try and show the characters as best she could.

She was once asked by dancer Carol Orane while viewing a photograph form the NDTC, "How did you get that picture?" the picture showed four dancers, Arlene Richards, Melanie Graham, Alaine Grant and Carol Orane. They were part of the background, but DaSilva separated them from the other dancers by using a zoom lens. She did not attend the rehearsals with the NDTC, but shot live in concert without the use of a flash.

She remembered going down to Montego Bay for the first Reggae Sunsplash where Bob Marley performed. While sitting in the front row, she got some advice from a foreign photographer who told her that she could push the speed of her film from 400 ASA to 800 ASA and even 1200 ASA, she has never forgotten that advice and can handle any situation now, that the stage requires.

Met many friends

DaSilva has met many friends through her photography including Myrna Hague while she was performing at the Jonkanoo Lounge, Charles Hyatt, Leonie Forbes, Cyrene Tomlinson and Winsome Samms. She also photographed the play, Two can Play, featuring Grace McGhie and Charles Hyatt as well as The Rope and the Cross by Easton Lee.

Easton has actually written some beautiful poetry for her new book. This publication is a tribute to her son, Scott, who suggested to his mother to produce a book on her dance photographs a few years before he passed away.

In interviewing Monica DaSilva and having worked alongside her on the JCDC Festival Photography Committee and also as a member of the Colour Photography Club of Jamaica, I would like to congratulate her for achieving her dream in the publication of her first photography book published by MacMillian Caribbean which will find its place on many coffe tables and also in the history of Jamaican culture.

Howard Moo Young is an advertising/graphic design/photography consultant with over 40 years of experience. Feedback to mooimages@yahoo.com.