What about the side you don’t see?

This is a photography project to share the unique views that people who work backstage get to experience, in theaters, concert halls, and event venues. And along the way, to document some priceless architectural treasures.

From the views from the catwalks to behind the curtain and under the stage, or even just the empty theater after everyone else has gone; every day in our jobs, we stumble across beautiful and unexpected sights. There’s even photos from deep inside the mechanisms of a long-forgotten pipe organ, built into the walls of the historic Strand Theater.

Most of these places were never meant to be seen and admired- they were designed to be purely functional. They exist only to create the magic of the show onstage. Many of them were designed specifically not to be seen. Using low-light cameras, long exposures, and painstaking care with camera placements and composition, I’ve tried to capture the surprising beauty of the side the audience never gets to see.

Other places here are entirely visible to the public, such as the one-of-a-kind Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts. I’ve tried to share their architecture and history from an unusual viewpoint.

In some of these photos, I’ve added artificial light or opened doors and windows to illuminate these places in beautiful ways. In others, the stark, shadowy nature of backstage “work light” is part of their magic.