Latest posts
The Photographic Image – The Photographic Medium
I teach an introductory non-credit photography class, where people come from different walks of life to either learn the technical aspect of photography, how to work their cameras or to challenge their seeing and photographing. There are some assignments, which encourage different ways of thinking when taking a photo and training the eye to see...
Jacinthe Lessard-L. – La Chambre
Jacinthe Lessard-L. is a Montreal based artist who recently showed her new body of work titled La Chambre at Galerie Les Territoires. Walking into the gallery, I was seduced by the simplicity of shape, form and colour, yet the work is far from simple. From what I understand the objects photographed...
Rediscovering Landscape
I’m currently working on some new work which has brought me to research theory and visual aspects that I never thought I would venture in to. It’s not very spectacular as a subject, it’s actually quite banal. You ready for it? …Landscape. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy landscape photography or...
The brownie camera and sharing photographs
Happy New Year to you all and all the very best for 2012! I have a question for you. Did you take any pictures when ringing in the new year? most likely you did or somebody at your party did. I know I did and I know I took a...
Happy Holidays, 2011
This is my grandfather dressed as ol’ Santy, posing for a Christmas snap with his grandmother. My grandfather is now 95 years old, although less nimble and less of a partier he still gets that twinkle in his eye and is very much alive. So for this holiday season I...
Alexander Henderson – Winter 1870s
Winter hasn’t yet arrived in Montreal. Sure it’s getting a little cold but no snow. I haven’t really been wearing my winter boots yet. Every year winter seems to be arriving a little later and summer stays a little longer. I don’t love winter, on the contrary I’m one of...
Iva Zimova
I don’t know many photographers, or I should say people, like Iva Zimova. We have been friends for a while now but I had heard so many stories about Iva before even meeting her that I can’t pinpoint the exact moment we talked or met. I know it was between...
Restoring Photographs
March 11, 2011, the devastating tsunami hit Japan and killed over 15,000 people and left thousands without homes. I couldn’t imagine then nor can I now, how it would be to experience such a traumatic event. Recently, I came across a documentary on the Guardian website, showing a mass movement of...
Diane Borsato – The Photograph as Document
Mois de la Photo is in full swing. For the next month, Montreal is hosting some stellar exhibits and artists. I’ve had the chance to see some of the exhibits and attend some the artist talks and looking forward to the upcoming events. Last week I caught Diane Borsato‘s talk at Concordia...
The Dead in Photographs
Rummaging through flea markets this summer, I came upon the portrait of the child above. The picture is a tintype, which was most likely taken in the mid to late 1800s (c.1850 to 1880s). To have a child sitting this still, with such clarity and no movement in the eyes...
Ian Wallace
Ian Wallace, an artist and art historian, has been producing, teaching and leading the contemporary photographic art scene in Canada since the late 1960s. I only came across Wallace’s work last year when visiting the National Gallery of Ottawa. The image above was my introduction to his work and this...

