documentographer » life photographer

I don’t know if you noticed, but summer has arrived.  It’s record-breaking highs here in Toronto today, and I’m loving every second of it.  It can, however, make some elements of my work challenging.  Sitting at the computer, yes!  But also shooting, and hoping that people will brave the heat, the sweat, the sun, the bugs, all of it, for the greater purpose of fabulous photos.  This is what Joanna + Sam did for our engagement shoot session yesterday.  And not only did they tolerate it all, but they laughed, smiled, and enjoyed it!

Three cheers for summer!  It will be on the other end of the season when their wedding comes around — but I’m still hopeful that the weather will be just as beautiful, even though I now know it doesn’t matter.  Weather doesn’t make the photo — the people do.

Oh, and the dogs!  Yes, the dogs make the photo too:

It’s very exciting for me when my friends get engaged to a wonderful match.  I love to celebrate it, and I especially love when I have the chance to share my enthusiasm through photography.  Francesca has been my friend since kindergarten, so you can imagine how exciting it is for me to photograph her engagement shoot and her upcoming wedding. For this shoot, we went up to her family’s farm.  This is a special place for the family, but also for the couple, as this is where she and Elliott kissed for the first time (by the big tree), and where he proposed (by the rock).

I feel like it’s worth noting that Fran has been following my blog for a long time, and confessed that she didn’t think it was possible that her engagement photos would be as loving/fun/romantic/beautiful as some of the photos of other couples on here.  Ha!  What a joke.  Look at this amazing couple.  I can’t wait for your wedding!! xoxo

If the photo shoot won’t come to the Spring blossoms, then I say, bring the Spring blossoms to the photo shoot.  And that is just what we did.

Tiffany + Jeff, thanks for all the fun yesterday.  I’m incredibly excited for your ROM wedding in July!

I was asked to take some photos of this butcher shop, and was pleased to discover a family.  The Friendly Butcher (3269 Yonge St) is the neighbourhood local, featuring local, quality meats.  It’s the place you go to feel welcomed, well-fed and taken care of. There is so much care here, it might woo a vegetarian to the meat-eating world.  OK, maybe not.  But you will feel like you are part of something positive, when you go.

I love engagement sessions, I really do.  It’s such a fun way for my clients and I to get to know each other.  But then I get impatient for their wedding to roll around, because I want to do it again.

Tap, tap, tap.  I had such a fun time with Daniel + Mei on the weekend (during a rare occurrence of no rain!), and now I have to wait until September to cover their wedding.

Four months and counting!

My next stop in the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival exploration of why photography is important to photographers, was at the Pikto Gallery in the Distillery District.  I went to chat with Tony Fouhse about his provocative show, ‘User’.

These photos taken of crack addicts were taken over a three-year period on a 20-metre strip of sidewalk, one kilometre and a half from Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

These are portraits of the people and their feelings, not the drug. Tony says it’s important to look into their eyes, as we usually pass addicts and avert their eyes. People react — sometimes positively, sometimes negatively.  But they react, which he considers to be a good thing.

This collection is a collaborative effort — All these photos are what they are because of what the subjects brought to the table.  He doesn’t show a photo without their approval.  But it’s more than that, it’s a cyclical process.  He’s using them, they’re using him, and we (the viewers) are using both of them.

Tony likes taking the photos, but hates the drudgery of presenting the work.  This is his hobby — he does commercial and editorial work for a living. But he decided to take this work out of his portfolio and share the images.  ”People keep making me do it!”, he says.

Thank goodness for that, is what I say.

I owe Roz some love.  It’s true.  We took these photos in December, and I haven’t blogged about them. They should be out here, for the world to see.  Just like she is — totally out there!!  If you need a video/streeter/doc/film made, this is your one-woman-show.  So serious here…

…But she’s actually a real ham!

I actually met Roz in early 2009 when I photographed her and her sister for the Ryerson Review of Journalism. We hit it off, and were excited to discover the chance to work together again later in 2009 when we went to Africa with Girl Impact.  I took photos, she took video.  We fell in love.

You will, too.  Check her out.  Follow her blog — www.therozblog.com. Get to know her.  If you get the chance to work with her, take it!  You will leave smiling.

As many people know, May is the month for the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. The photo festival of all photo festivals, with hundreds of exhibits all over Toronto.  This gets the blood of most of us photographers flowing with excitement.

This year, I have been thinking about the sheer variety of shows at the festival.  Documentary, Fashion, Fine Art, Political, Travel, you name it.  So many artists sharing their work — I’m curious what the motivation behind it is for participants, and what it means to them. As I have been pondering my own reasons for choosing photography as not just my livelihood, but also as my main form of self-expression, creativity and connecting, I have decided use this festival as a way to explore these questions for myself by seeing what other artists have to say.

I’ve started with talking to the artists of The Untold Stories Exhibit at the University of Toronto’s New College.  (45 Willcocks)  On display until June 6.  This is a collaborative show by World Vision photographers Alyssa Bistonath, Paul Bettings and Andrew Goodwin.

ANDREW GOODWIN

ALYSSA BISTONATH

PAUL BETTINGS

Question: How did you know this was the kind of work you wanted to do?

Andrew: Has always dreamt of being a photographer working for World Vision.  He and his wife have been supporters for many years.  He just never believed it would really happen.

Alyssa: She didn’t really have a choice.  It chose her. She always knew she wanted to go to Africa and work for World Vision, she just didn’t know in what capacity.  They called her one day, it was an amazing miracle.

Paul : Technically, he didn’t know. In fact, the first offer he had, he turned down, thinking he didn’t want to go. The next year, he had another offer, this one he took.

Question: Why is this kind of photography important?

Andrew: He does think that people in North America care, but he believes there is a distance, and it’s not always on their radar. This kind of photography makes the distance traversable.  It brings the reality of life in the developing world into their homes and periphery.

Alyssa: The photos of the three photographers are very different.  Alyssa likes to get very close to her subjects.  To really look at someone face to face, you can get a sense of who they are.  When you see a portrait larger than life, you can feel how intimate it is.  All four people in her photos let her into their lives and told her secrets.

Paul: It’s important because it gives these people a bit of a voice. They are struck silent because there is no way to reach people to tell them their story.  In fact, they might not even know that their situation is different than anyone in Canada’s situation.  This kind of photography gives them an opportunity to come out of their silence.

Question: Why is it important to YOU?

Andrew: He finds it grounding.  He gets to go abroad with World Vision a couple of times a year, and it keeps bringing him back to the reality of what life means on a more global perspective.

Alyssa: Her story is the most valuable thing she has as an individual.  She has all these ways to tell her story — and some people don’t.  It’s important to her to share that privilege.

Paul : It’s important to him because it’s about people. People who deserve better. It’s important for him to remember that people have ‘nothing’, often actually have everything.

Question: What does it mean to exhibit this work?

Andrew: He is very proud to attach his name to a big company like World Vision. At the same time, this is a chance to showcase photos that wouldn’t otherwise be seen.  Some of the photos never even got handed into World Vision.

Alyssa: It’s a relief!  When you shoot for an organization, you don’t always know what happens to the photos, and who sees them.  When you take them, the stories become part of your story, and you want to share them.

Paul: He feels it’s good enough for people to see what and how they see. World Vision has an image, and sometimes the images the photographers shoot don’t fit that mould.  For this reason, it’s nice to show their own work.

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I will continue to seek answers from artists and cover more exhibits over the month.  For more info on the festival, or to see posts by other bloggers covering the festival, go to http://scotiabankcontactphoto.com/blog