Awakening Shadow

Sydney Chamber Opera

Media Scenography

A column of fire suspended against a black background

“This beautifully curated production from one of Australia’s most innovative arts groups lingers in the mind like the 20th century’s haunting ruins.”


Sydney Morning Herald

To create the statue-like imagery, ballet dancer Luca Armstrong was photographed with 120 synchronised cameras. The resulting images were processed using photogrammetry, which generates 3D geometry through the analysis and comparison of multiple photographs of a subject.

A monolithic 5-meter tall LED screen is the central element of the stage design. Choreographed forms that represent various mythological & biblical characters and phases of Britten’s life transform between pure and corrupted - depicting Britten as lover, victim, aggressor, sacrifice, survivor and martyr.

The floating bodies are progressively multiplied, intersected, distorted and fragmented - photorealistic yet hauntingly unreal, as if existing somewhere between life and death.

Person examining photogrammetry processing software on a computer monitor in a darkened studio.
Photogrammetry shoot
A tall narrow fire in a black void.
A silhouetted woman wearing a black veil stands in front of a projection of fire.
A panel of 5 vertical 3D renderings of two nude bodies floating in space like statues. The two bodies are the same man.
A person wearing a gold mask and a black veil stands with her hands raised in front of a large projection of two male bodies floating in space.
A nude man floats in a black void. His body is breaking up into shards, revealing that he is only a shell.
Dozens of 3D-rendered bodies float in space. Each body is the same man. The bodies are contorted and intersect each other.
Colourful 3D rendered orchids float though the air, filliing the entire view.