Artist Statement

When I photograph I sometimes go off into my own little world where it’s just me and my camera. Some of my photos are spur-of-the-moment, whereas others are more thought out and usually centre around a particular concept or theme. I know a photo is finished when I’m really happy with the results (whether it worked out the way I expected it to or it went off in a totally different direction), or I feel that I can’t do any more (or am afraid to: I’ve wrecked a few pieces by going too far), or it just feels finished. When my work is going well, I feel really happy, even excited: while I enjoy the challenge of making art, sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and relax, which is what happens when things are going well for me. When people see my work I’d like them to look more closely at the world around them that all of us (myself included) pass by and don’t bother to notice.

I photograph for several reasons: I like capturing moments in peoples’ lives, either anonymously or with the subject’s knowledge; I like pulling attention to things that people see every day and don’t really think about; and I like photographing things that people might not see. I’ve been photographing nature for several years and I will probably continue to do nature photography for the rest of my life. I also would like to try things like wedding photography.

When I think about taking a photo I think about the composition; light quality and (if it’s less than desirable) how to improve it; how I can get what I want in-camera before I do post-processing in Photoshop. If I’m working on a pre-existing series I think about what angles (literally and figuratively) I have and haven’t explored.

Currently I’m trying to explore concepts that I previously have been too timid to even seriously consider. It’s only since I started at NBCCD that I realized that the ideas about art that I had grown up with were holding me back even though they are legitimate ideas. I still acknowledge the old ideas, but I also know that they aren’t all that I’m about. That’s one of the reasons why I like digital photography: if the idea doesn’t work, I just have to delete the photo and format the card.