The Elegance of Horses

October 25, 2015 in Personal Work

There's something about horses that mesmerizes me. The ferocity, the movement, the power... an entire situation of chaos being controlled by a bridle and a saddle.

I recall visiting the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan and seeing that Hayao Mayazaki spent many an hour (day? Week? Month? Years?) creating animations of horses and their movement as he watched it on a screen. This affected me profoundly for my own vision. While the application is different (I'm capturing specific moments through photography instead of trying to capture and animate the intricate movements of horses), I feel that horses represent a bit of a starting place and a centering place for me: Amidst the chaos and the uncontrollable situations of horses and riders jumping, I have to watch them carefully, calm myself down, focus and just shoot... and get it right.

The Colours of Chinatown

April 12, 2015 in CHINATOWN

I photograph a lot in black and white but some times I break out the colour film and go to (China) town.

In this image, I waited for the girl to enter the circular door to create a sort of frame within the photograph, contrasting the other people to the far left.

The Immensity of Trees

April 06, 2015 in Personal Work

While I photograph a majority of the time in black and white, I truly feel that there are times when colour is the approach I want to take. The tone of an entire image, or even set of images, changes when using colour or black and white.

I know there are times when we photographers have said that we change colour images to black and white when they're kinda sucky and "black and white will save it". Not to me. Black and white is a language... a language of photography. Colour is another language. Just like languages, different tones and expressions can affect the mood of the conversation and/or... photograph.

To me, black and white is not a crutch to lean on nor is it a "style" I choose. To me, it's a way of thinking and a way of seeing the world...

Then I see a lush forest with a brilliant green and think to myself "I can best express this feeling I get from this moment using colour."

The images were all taken during a recent rainy/cloudy/overcast hike around Lighthouse Park in Vancouver.
Nikon film camera + Ektar 100 film (scans adjusted to a Portra setting)