Pictures of the Year, 2013

[Over 13 days, from December 20-January 2, we will be publishing the best live performance photos or promo shots of the year. We began choosing them by considering the 50 Pictures of the Week we published in 2013. The most difficult decisions involved cutting that down to ten photos and two runners-up. However when it came to deciding Picture of the Year, which we'll reveal January 2, the decision was obvious almost from the moment we originally published the photo. As we show you each photo in this holiday series, we will also share with you what we wrote about it at the time. Enjoy! [and help us spread the word about this magnificent art form: performing arts photography!]

There is so much happening in this promotional pic for Venus in Fur at Vancouver's Arts Club that you may not even see it at first but David Cooper's photo draws you in to find it. Yes, yes, yes Lindsey Angell's leg is quite fine, and the BDSM boot is provocative. But here's the thing: this is actually two boots, two legs. Look at the toes, and look at the heels. Now what this does - without the eye even catching it - is suggest both domination (one boot; i.e.: in a victory pose) and submission (two boots; i.e.: in a "polite little lady" pose). That is the essence of the play - a tricky play on power dynamics between an actor and a writer/director. Whoa!