With how it’s portrayed in pop culture, why would anyone want to be a ballet dancer? Black Swan likened it to a dark, chaotic underworld; Center Stage to a cesspool of egoists and mean girls; and even the “reality” show Breaking Pointe made it seem like a bizarre version of The Dating Game in pointe shoes.

But, when looking at the photographs of dance photographer Kyle Froman, all these misconceptions seem to melt away, replaced instead with a yearning honesty. Froman’s works both show the tutus, the glitter, and the grandiose glamour, but also the life behind the velvet curtain: a ballerina, moments before showtime, fussing with her hair; a dancer wincing in pain; dancers beautifully juxtaposed with their Lincoln Center surroundings. How exactly was he able to capture this essence of an industry—a task that so many others have tried but failed? Perhaps because he’s one of them.

Froman spent 13 years as a corps de ballet member with the New York City Ballet, which, for most, would be the crowning, pinnacle achievement of a hard-wrought ballet career. But as much as he loved performing with one of the top companies in the world, he also developed another fascination: observing his co-workers behind the scenes. “There’s a different kind of beauty that’s revealed when you take a dancer off a stage,” he told VF.com.

Courtesy of Kyle Froman.

And so, Froman started taking pictures. “I knew where to point my lens to catch the human side of a dancer’s life, but I also understood choreography and the energy of a performance,” he said. A year after photographing the N.Y.C.B., he published his first major work as a photographer, In the Wings: Behind the Scenes of the New York City Ballet.

These works and more are the subject of a new exhibit at Jacob’s Pillow, “Kyle Froman: Bodies/Buildings,” which is an exploration of dance, structure, duplication, and chaotic order, especially highlighting Froman’s photographs that combine the human figures with architecture. The exhibit also features a film made by Ezra Hurwitz about Froman’s artistic journey as a photographer, including praise from legendary ballet figures Christopher Wheeldon and Wendy Whelan. See a clip, below:

And what’s next for Froman? Well, he hopes to foray into fashion. “I love planning a shoot and honing my ideas down to a striking image,” he said. As it seems, the photographer has a new world to choreograph.