Clive Barda

Clive Blackmore Barda (born 14 January 1945) is a London-based, British freelance photographer best known for capturing the performances of classical musicians and artists of the stage (opera, ballet and theatre). During his career spanning over five decades, Barda has created a collection of over a million photographs of performers, composers, and conductors.

Early life Barda was born in 1945 and spent his early childhood in Alexandria, Egypt, where his father was a lawyer and his mother a painter. The family returned to England in 1956. Barda attended Bryanston School and graduated from Birkbeck College, University of London (BA Hons Modern Langs), aspiring to apply his knowledge of modern languages as a commodities broker in the City. His early interest in photography was mostly documentary; while studying for his degree, he travelled to Romania to photograph the painted monasteries of Moldavia. At the time, Drake's husband, John Wilbraham, was recording the Haydn and Hummel trumpet concertos and the producer asked Barda to shoot the album's sleeve. Drake then showed Barda's work to her agent, who recommended him to other artists, thus opening up opportunities for further engagements. as a freelance photographer. In her review of Barda's book Performance! (2000) for The Guardian, Charlotte Higgins stated: Over the past 30 years, Barda has photographed anyone who is anyone in music, from late, great luminaries such as Lucia Popp, Olivier Messiaen, Benjamin Britten and Charles Groves to today's young stars such as Evgeny Kissin, David Daniels and Cecilia Bartoli. — Charlotte Higgins

He has also worked abroad: in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, the U.S., and China. He has taken photographs during rehearsals and recordings in the studios of AIR Studios, the BBC, CBS, EMI's Abbey Road Studios, Olympic Studios, among others, as well as at the home venues of major orchestras such as the LSO. and has been referred to as the doyen of British music photography.

Method

When commissioned for a project, Barda asks what music will be played, since it is his understanding of the piece that will enable him to anticipate the decisive split second at which a good picture might be taken. As he explained: "Music is constantly punctuated. (...) There are narrative passages, there are peaks and troughs. The pictures occur at the peaks, the climaxes. Even if you don't know the music—though it helps if you do—you develop a sixth sense for these highs." 1980 – An Eye for an Ear. Manchester, England 1981 – An Eye for an Ear. Adelaide, Australia 1996 – Music to the Eye. Inaugural exhibition at Nagaoka Lyric Hall, Japan (3 November – 23 December 1996) 2001 – Edinburgh International Festival, Scotland 2005 – Permanent exhibition Wigmore Hall, London 2012 – Exposure!: Guangzhou Opera House (31 March-1 July 2012), China National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing (5-19 April 2012), China Hangzhou Grand Theatre (10 April-10 May 2012), China Cambridge Summer Music Festival (17-22 July 2012), England Royal Opera House at Thurrock (14-20 October 2012), England Tap Seac Gallery (1 November-9 December 2012), Macao 2013 – Music in Focus. Ealing Music and Film Valentine Festival (14-17 February 2013)

Collections In 1990, Barda founded the Performing Arts Library (PAL), to showcase his own collection and the work of other photographers specializing in the arts.

Honours Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Honorary fellowship of the Musicians' Company, July 2016.