Chance Meeting

West Queen West, Queen Street, Toronto, Ontario 

It was on a 2011 holiday in Glasgow, Scotland , I was introduced to Street Photography and to blip by
photographer Colin Templeton (Contraflow), whom I met by chance. When he spoken about his photography I was mesmerized. Who would have known this chance encounter would change my life forever. 

In my daily life I am a Rehabilitation Therapist working in the field of Acquired Brain Injury. I work with clients that can be physically, environmentally, and verbally aggressive. I also work with clients that have addiction and or mental health issues. I find working with these clients very challenging, but on the other hand very rewarding. With this job I am always prepared for the unknown.  I feel that the skills that I have learned through this work can easily be adapted when I am photographing on the streets, due to my enjoyment wandering the city streets at night with who or what I might encounter. 

I also have worked over 20 years in the Fashion Industry as a Visual Display Artist-creating window and in-store displays for retail shops, department stores and designers.  This work involves researching to get an understanding of what is visually needed from the designers — sourcing materials, lighting, props and accessories.  This design skill is used to promote the image, products and services of businesses and also organizations.  I have also trained as a Makeup Artist and have a background in advertising. These creative fields have helped me with my composition and my artistic eye.

I cannot identify one point that inspired me to become a photographer. It was more like a series of events that contributed to my involvement with photography. I’m passionate about all arts and for thinking creatively. I’m a visual artist!  

Photography, especially street photography, has become a spontaneous and exciting way of expressing my own creativity by shooting (and interacting with) what I see in the instances of life I come across. It connects me with these myriad moments and makes the ordinary become special. I know that it has become a bit of a passion for me because when I stay away from it too long, for even just a break, I feel there’s a part of me missing. Photography for me is a way to express the beauty of the world as I see it.

I’ve spent a great deal of time with books and used online resources; I have never had any formal training when it comes to photography. I am also a knowledge seeker and always trying to find different ways to refine my photographic eye.  As I have stated I have an artistic background in fashion, advertising and Makeup Arts, I feel that these creative jobs have taught me all about composition.

I also have tried to surround myself with creative people and mentors that freely give me advice or critique my work. I have to say I have received a lot of encouragement from many Photographers. I feel when photographers share their knowledge with each other it is worth more than its weight in gold. I feel that my photography has grown as a result of those sharing their knowledge and I will be paying that forward by sharing my knowledge and photographs.  

Photography has pretty much become my life in a much unplanned way.  It’s a way for me to communicate the places I’ve seen and the stories I come across or the innate beauty or curiosity in things I see. It’s hard to put into words your feelings about a place, but a photograph has so much power to transcend normal limits of communication. I’m also always looking at things in life from various perspectives and with photography; it’s the ultimate challenge to do that and to also create something interesting. 

I feel in love with street photography.  The emotions and coherence of streets demonstrating captured my attention and I started taking images of strangers and their surroundings.  My motivation for street photography is to showcase the beauty as I see it. It gives me a chance to show others my take on the spirit of a place and time, and the people in it. Street photography for me is about immortalizing a moment, a mood, an image. It’s about capturing the essence of a moment, with all its emotional.

I have started a few different projects, one is Modern Cubism which is my reflection photography, usually in windows. For over twenty years I was a visual display artist and spent a lot of time in a store window.  I guess you can take the girl out of the window but can't take the window out of the girl. 

Another project I am working on is called Addicted to The Dark, I don't know what it is but I'm attracted to the mystery of dark. I love to wander and get lost in the city streets at night. I feel that the  darkness of the night adds a bit of mystery and dimension to otherwise “ordinary” street scenes that you would encounter during the day. 

Emotion is what drives me. When I feel some deeply stirring emotional reaction within, then I look closer to see what it is that I am reacting to. I am very intuitive and trust my intuition to lead me. Sometimes when I feel that prick of reaction I don’t know what it is. I will look and wonder, and sometimes think, ‘what could it be, that looks boring’. Other times it is electricity and I know there is something waiting to reveal itself. I try to immerse myself in the moment and to not allow conscious censoring.

Despite the risk, I prefer to work alone. Photography is a thing that I can completely lose myself in. I always liked Garry Winogrand's  approach to photography. One of his quote struck a chord with me when he said that taking photographs was the closest he could come to actually disappearing. I get lost when I am roaming the streets. It makes me feel like a Tourist.