Behind
the
Lens
“Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul”
I was raised on the prairies of Manitoba and as a young girl had an interest in art. This prompted me to not just look, but see the environment around me….the beautiful detail in the swaying grasses, the hoarfrost or the approaching storms.
As a young woman I was drawn to the West and since then have spent most of my time in the mountains and amongst the trees of the West Kootenays. I have a deep respect for and love of nature and this is where my focus lies in subject matter. The quote by John Muir, “Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul”, resonates with me and my work. The visual inspiration of nature is never ending.
Images surround us constantly in our day to day lives. We can walk past them without a glance, or choose to see something that strikes a chord with our senses. Sometimes that entails detail and sometimes the larger view. Through photography I have continued to see the world around me – whether it be the mundane or the miraculous. I am a lifelong learner and I hope that some of my passion for visual images reflects in my work.
“I am a life long learner and I hope that some of my passion for visual images reflects in my work.”
My journey has been from black and white film to digitally created images. There was a gap of a few decades when life took a turn, as life sometimes does. Once I had the time to devote to my photography again, I found that it had become something entirely different than what I had known. It involved a huge learning curve for someone technologically challenged, but I persisted.
I tend to work a lot from emotion, instinct and response to images I see. Images vibrate around us constantly and as a photographer, I aspire to catch some of the fleeting moments that pass us by, and to turn a fresh eye on everyday scenes that would otherwise go unnoticed. This “eye” now includes ICM ( Intentional Camera Movement) and in camera multiple exposures to broaden my vision and possibilities. Some of these images have been printed on canvas which brings a painterly and impressionistic effect. This is a far leap from the Black & White film images I started with, but as with life, photography is a process . I am a life long learner and I hope that some of my passion for visual images is reflected in my work.
