For dance photographer Kyle Froman, taking a really great photo is like…vacuuming?

Well, sort of. Froman, whose thrilling, behind-the-scenes shots of New York City Ballet dancers are up right now at the 92nd St. Y as part of an exhibition called Athletes of God, admits that he likes to bring order to the chaos. Last night, as part of a talkback about his photographs, he explained that assembling the many parts of a photo—the dancers, their positions, the lighting, the juxtaposition, the unexpected serendipities or change in plans—into a finished product feels much like the joy he gets out of vacuuming. Running a vacuum over a carpet and seeing its even, straight pathways is soothing to Froman.

His method of preparation is equally detailed. He loves to sketch out what he wants a photo to look like first:

Before…

And then make it come to life:

…and after!

A former dancer with NYCB for many years, Froman is also a frequent photographer for DT. In honor of his 92nd St. Y gallery—which is on view through April 6 in the Weill Art Gallery—we thought we’d share some of our favorite shots he’s taken for our magazine:

Our June 2015 cover subjects, Ahtoy WonPat-Borja and Daniel Enskat, knew how to up the wow factor.

Tammi Shamblin (DT, December 2015) kept her barre exciting for the young boys in her class—by asking them to show off their biceps.

(They got to warm up their faces, too!)

Gus Solomons jr (DT, December 2016) was a natural in front of the camera for Froman. (No surprise, given his extensive career.) I loved how Froman so perfectly captured his energy and fabulous spirit.