In Time with the Brooklyn Treble Choir at Old First Reformed Church
Most church sanctuaries are flat. Old First Reformed Church in Brooklyn isn't. The floor slopes down from the back row, giving every seat a clear sightline to the performers. That same design works in a photographer's favor too.
I was there a couple weeks ago to photograph "In Time," a concert by the Brooklyn Treble Choir under artistic director Liz Geisewite. It was my first time working with the choir and my first time shooting in this space, though Liz hired me because she liked my work with another ensemble she directs. It's always nice to reconnect with someone whose work you already know.
The program leaned into the theme of time in all its forms. You had Imogen Holst settings of John Keats and John Donne, a Stephen Chatman piece with text by Christina Rossetti, and spirituals arranged by Ysaye Barnwell. Then the second half shifted gears with newer works, including pieces by Jennifer Lucy Cook and Juliana Hall setting Emily Dickinson. And yes, there was a full choir rendition of Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," which is exactly the kind of unexpected moment that keeps concert photography interesting.
The lighting presented the usual church challenges, maybe a bit more pronounced than usual. A single chandelier cast most of its light on the center of the choir, which meant the singers on the edges were harder to expose properly. You adjust. You find the angles that work. You wait for moments when the composition favors the light you've got. And you budget extra time when editing to even things out.
What I appreciated about this concert was the variety. Treble choirs have a particular sound, bright and focused, and watching Liz shape that sound across such different repertoire gave me plenty of visual material. The expressions change when a choir shifts from a contemplative Holst piece to something like "I'll Fly Away."
Annie Stulc on piano anchored the evening, and assistant conductor Lily Chien took the podium for a piece. Those transitions between conductors always offer good photographic moments, the handoff of energy from one leader to another.
Shooting a new venue for the first time is part of the job I genuinely enjoy. You're solving problems in real time, figuring out where to stand, how the light moves, what angles give you both the performers and the architectural context. Old First Reformed has beautiful bones, and the sloped floor meant I could get clean shots of the full ensemble without heads blocking the frame.
For choirs like Brooklyn Treble, documentation serves a few practical purposes. Photos from concerts like this end up in grant applications, on websites, in season brochures. They show funders and potential audience members what the ensemble actually looks like in performance, not just what they sound like on a recording.
If you're running a choir or vocal ensemble in the NYC area and need professional concert documentation, I'd be happy to talk about what that looks like. You can see more of my choral and performing arts work at danwrightphotography.com.
