A problem in capturing ethnic dance in photographs is how to get “beyond” the lure of the costumes or to see the artists as mere “exotica.” I posed this dilemma to photographer extraordinaire, Bonnie Kamin, who picked up a camera for the first time in 1981. “Although I was not a dancer myself, I was passionate about becoming a dance photographer,” she relayed. And indeed she became just that, archiving the Bay Area contemporary and ethnic dance scene throughout the ‘80’s and early 90’s until she left the Bay Area to become a world traveler and on-site photographer.

In her archives, not only did Ms. Kamin capture the early careers of local dance luminaries such as Margaret Jenkins, Joe Goode, Ed Mock and Cecilia Marta, but Ms. Kamin also amassed hundreds of photographs from the beginnings of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. The photos of Cruz Luna, the original Barbary Coast Cloggers, Malonga Casquelourd, Aleluia Panis are living documents of the birth of a festival that was the first of its kind nationally.

Ms. Kamin has resumed her photographic career full-force, returning last year to chronicle the 25th anniversary season of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival as well as photographing this year’s festival. . . .

Ms. Kamin considers her camera to be a tool of interaction between the dancer and herself. She makes a distinction between her approach with her subjects, which is highly interactive, and that of a fine art photographer, who sets up all elements of the shoot. Dance photography must be more intuitively based and in the moment. Watching Ms. Kamin work in one of her photo shoots, you can see how interactive she is; she is rarely hidden behind a shutter for too long. She explains that she tries to sense the peak of a movement or tries to follow the flow of a choreographic pattern. Her photos often show the enthrallment of the moment on the faces of her subjects. She becomes psychologist, relaxation therapist and clever wizard all at once in assessing what will work with artists. The magic, when it happens, becomes a photographic reality with her trained eye and quick shutter finger.

Ms. Kamin pauses before answering my question of how to portray ethnic dance without succumbing to photographing mere exotica. She says, “If we take all our dancers and put them in black unitards, some of the dances would still be beautiful, no matter what. Bharatanatyam would still be powerful; the dances of Africa would still be incredible; the folk dances of Mexico would still be engaging.” And she is so right; the dance, no matter what the wrapping, has to emanate from a source that is not about the lace, buttons, color or tailoring. The dance is still the vehicle of the dancer.