COCHRANE— A local photographer’s photo of the legendary Canadian ballet dancer Karen Kain has been memorialized on a new commemorative Canada Post stamp.
Photographer and former ballet dancer Andrew Oxenham's black and white photo of the Canadian ballerina was chosen for the Legends of Canadian Ballet-Karen Kain permanent domestic rate stamps. The stamp was released to the public on April 29.
An email from Canada Post requesting the use of the photo on the postage stamp came as a complete surprise, Oxenham said, adding it has been a humbling and once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“I felt very honoured to have been chosen for a stamp,” Oxenham said. “I still don’t know if I’ve really come to grips with having a stamp. You take photographs all the time and you never expect to be honoured with such a prestigious thing.”
The image captured Kain completing a jeté sideways for a studio shoot in 1974 with a Hasselblad camera. Oxenham said they photographed the dance move several times during the photo session. The image depicts Kain as the Black Swan in the production Swan Lake.
The stamp has reignited Oxenham’s memories of the ballet world.
Oxenham boasts a deep connection to ballet. He was a dancer from a young age and went on to graduate from Canada’s National Ballet School.
He joined The National Ballet of Canada on his 19th birthday. He danced with them for nine years and later spent three years in Germany with the Stuttgart Ballet.
He returned to Canada and danced for two more years before being forced to retire due to injuries.
Oxenham had always had an interest in photography, he said, and has spent countless hours photographing dancers.
This led him to become a dance photographer and he worked with the National Ballet for more than 30 years. At times he would photograph more than 20 dancers a day.
Kain graduated from the National Ballet School about three years after Oxenham. He had the opportunity to choreograph a dance for her and three other dancers during his last year at the school.
The photo featured on the Canada Post map was one of many Oxenham shot of Kain during their time with the National Ballet.
“You’re shooting for the moment and the time and getting the best picture of the artist,” Oxenham said.
He eventually completed souvenir programs for the National Ballet, and Kain's photograph was taken during one of these studio shoots.
Oxenham still remembers shooting the portrait series and the sheer concentration that went into capturing the perfect image. He knew he had a exceptional shot after seeing the developed photo.
He knew it was a special photograph and entered it in the Professional Photographs of Canada print competition, and it received a merit award from the Professional Photographers of Ontario.
During his time transitioning from dancing to photography, Oxenham created a series of books including Dance Today in Canada and Puppetry in Canada.
Oxenham called Ontario home for many years before making the move to Alberta.
He and his wife Vivian moved to Cochrane two years ago to be closer to their family.
“We decided we want to come and spend time with the grandchildren,” Oxenham said.
His latest transition has been a project that aims to capture the beauty of dance in nature with his project Dancing Flowers Photography.
The project works to evoke the feeling of dance through the use of flower images.
The photographs for the most part are taken in his studio so he can better control the setting, although some have been completed in the wild.
“When I look at flowers and photograph them, I try to imagine them as dancers. I try to create some movement in the flowers,” Oxenham said.
