About Brandon
New York, NY
Brandon Stirling Baker is a Tony Award-Nominated lighting designer working internationally. His work can be seen on stages throughout the United States and abroad including Broadway, Lincoln Center, Hollywood Bowl, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Australian Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Park Avenue Armory, American Repertory Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Miami City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Semperoper Dresden, Finnish National Ballet, and many others. Baker received a Tony Award Nomination for his lighting of ILLINOISE on Broadway and is a recipient of the Knight of Illumination Award for his work in dance. Baker has designed over 30 premieres worldwide for choreographer Justin Peck, and works frequently with William Forsythe, Jamar Roberts, and Pam Tanowitz among others. He is the Resident Lighting Designer of Boston Ballet and a Lecturer of Design at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.
The Other Side of Light
Lighting designers work with an intangible medium that shapes how we see the stage and defines the aesthetic of a work. Like cinematographers, they use focus, color, intensity, and direction to create perspective, often in compressed timeframes and under public view. In dance—considered by many the highest form of lighting design—they become world-builders, telling stories with light alone.
The Other Side of Light presents a rare collection of 35mm portraits of American lighting designers whose contributions have transformed ballet and modern dance—from New York City Ballet and Alvin Ailey to Martha Graham, José Limón, and Danspace Project. Though their artistry is central to the experience of dance, audiences rarely encounter the faces or voices behind the light.
Captured by Tony Award–nominated designer Brandon Stirling Baker, this project pairs portraits with recorded reflections from five leading designers, offering intimate insight into their connection to choreography, collaboration, and light. At the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, Baker will expand the project nationwide, curating it into a museum or gallery exhibition where the artists behind the light can finally be seen and heard.