Showing posts with label pinhole photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pinhole photography. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Beach Reads: PARADISE - with pinhole by M.L.Holton


ISBN: 978-9970853-8-9
Thrilled to be included in the third anthology of the Beach Reads series, PARADISE, published by the Third Street Writers based in Laguna Beach, California. (Released early May, 2019.)

When musing on what paradise is and isn't, I realized that Family and Nature are probably the two most defining components of any given life.

Both spheres 'shape' our home lives on this planet. These spheres can manifest as either a living hell filled with strife and acrimony OR they can invite and welcome us to safe places filled with abundance. (For most, it's generally a topsy-turvy mix of both!)

The visual I selected to synthesis these two spheres was an award-winning pinhole paper-photograph that I did some time ago, called Granny's Lounger. To my mind, this image encapsulates the best of both: generational human care-taking and the complex bounty of the natural world.

Granny's Lounger is faithfully reproduced in this delightful volume opposite a charming poem, 'Latched', by Ellen Girardeau Kempler. Ellen's tender poem also honours the often unseen - but never forgotten - natural forces that shape us daily.

If looking for a thought-provoking summer read, pick up this well-assembled anthology.

Double page spread from PARADISE supplied by Third Street Writers - Copyright Third Street Writers
  

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Sun Shadow II - Pinhole Photography by M.L.Holton


A three person show at  
The CARNEGIE GALLERY 
in Dundas, Ontario, Canada.

July 6th-29th
Drop on by! 

Opening Reception:
FRIDAY, July 6th
7pm 9:30pm. 

See you there! 
- mlh 


Wednesday, April 4, 2018

MLH OPEN STUDIO - June 3rd, 2018 - 3-5pm


Thrilled to be a part of Hamilton Arts Week, June 2 - 9th, 2018. 
Will 'represent' the Hamilton Beach Community 
via my lakeside studio. 

SUNDAY - JUNE 3rd, 2018 - 3-5pm 
Margaret Lindsay Holton 
OPEN STUDIO

EVENT LISTING: Visit spectacular lake-side ART STUDIO of multi-disciplined, award-winning Golden Horseshoe artist, Margaret Lindsay Holton. Known for her distinctive 'naive-surreal-folk-abstract' paintings & beguiling photo-collages, Lindsay's distinctive art has established her as one of the regions best loved & collectible artists. Provocative. as well as prolific, come see what she's up to next! 

Family Friendly. Light Refreshments on Site. 
Plus, access to Lake Ontario beach front out front.

MLH Paintings, Photography (pinhole & digital), Books, CDs, DVDs, cards & other MLH ephemera
 - available for review and purchase.
All Welcome! 
HASHTAG: #HAMARTSWEEK

Kindly note, if coming via car, please PARK on side street opposite Harry's Pub. 
Entrance to Studio is via SIDE DOOR on building. Ring Buzzer No. 3. 
(Barking dog is behind the door!) - See you then!

Hamilton  Beach Strip, Lake Ontario waterfront
 Can't make it? Not to worry, some items still available via my art shop page ... HERE.


Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Painting & Pinholing - Off to a Great Start in the New Year!

Bruce Trail: Early Spring (2009) by M.L.Holton - SOLD
For five years, I was the Trail Captain for the Ian Reid Side Trail, a tributary of the Bruce Trail, in southern Ontario, Canada. A 1.5 km trail, it meanders off the main trail through the woodland area beneath the Niagara Escarpment. It was my job to keep the trail clear of debris and just keep an 'eye on it'. I'd head out for a good hike at least once every two weeks. At that time of the year, the tail end of winter, the ground was still bone hard. A gentle brush of snow covered the lee-side of the escarpment, but the sun - oh that Sun! - was sending out such radiant warmth that I stopped in my tracks when ascending the trail and just marveled. ... I could sense the WHOLE marvelous planetary drama unfold ... The trees cracked, wee tiny water rivulets were forming on the trail, and that shimmering sunlight & early spring air were soooo fresh & invigorating! Ah! The Promise of Spring! - We are so very blessed to live on this amazing planet. - And I am very happy that this work has now gone on to a good home.

In other 'New Years'  news, I also recently completed a great interview with David Ellis via his arts blog, about my pinhole photography. Have a gander -  Photographer Interview - Margaret Lindsay Holton.

A few choice extracts follow - 

DL: Thank you for chatting to us today about the traits of your photography, along with what motivates and influences you as a photographer. Firstly, please tell us about your photography speciality, which is Pinhole Photography. What type of photography is this and what are its origins?

Margaret Lindsay Holton replies: 
Pinhole photography is the oldest known form of photography on the planet. The earliest known use of this technique was in Asia around 500 B.C, and in the West, around 500 A.D. During the Renaissance it enjoyed a brief resurgence as scientists and philosophers explored the emerging realm of optics. Sir David Brewster, a Scottish scientist, first coined the phrase ‘pin-hole’ in the 1850’s. Also known as a ‘camera obscura’, pinhole photography – without the use of lens or fancy mechanical gadgetry – lets in a small pinhole of light to a completely blacked-out cavity. This incoming pinhole of light creates a upside-down reverse image of what the pinhole is facing.
In other words, it creates a ‘negative’.I use photo-sensitive paper to create my images. From the paper ‘negative’, I pull a ‘positive’ print in my darkroom using conventional developing techniques. The ‘positive’ photo image, also known as a ‘contact print’, is what you see as the finished photograph.

Labour intensive, creating one pinhole image can easily take 8 to 10 hours, from initial ‘loading’ of the photo-sensitive paper in the darkroom, to the end result of the final photo image. Yet, oddly, time dissolves when pinholing. The process forces one to be very attentive to the ‘here and now’. All becomes vivid, more immediate. One is literally dancing with Light…

I am ever beguiled by this seemingly archaic form of ‘slow photography’. It amazes me still, even after nearly two decades of pinholing, that I can create photo images without a lens, or a mechanical box with shutters or digital fittings.

Have you always been interested in Pinhole Photography or do you have other genre types of pictures that you have focused on over the course of your career?

I began taking photographs many years ago, like many, with a simple Box Brownie. As I grew older, I moved into more conventional photography, with upgrades of equipment, first using 35mm film then switching to digital, for the last twenty years.

Now, as an award-winning, multi-disciplined and senior Canadian artist, I see and use the discipline of photography as an alternative tool to perceive, interpret and document the world that I inhabit.
I have always pinholed somewhat organically. I never, as example, use a light meter. Rather, to understand exposure, I instinctively gauge the brilliance of the Sun bouncing off objects, constantly learning by trial and error.

All in all, I am not particularly ‘connected’ to current digital methods of photography. Cameras are tools that can be used in a variety of different ways to amplify WHAT we see and HOW we see it. The skill of photography – to convey meaning – comes with the understanding of the effects of light while adroitly framing a composition. Mechanical cameras and digital software twiddle with these photo basics.

To that end, aside from pinhole photography, I create digital photo-montages where I layer images on top of each other to create hybrid visual stories.


I also create what I call digital ‘white outs’. In this method, I take a digital image and then, via now an outdated computer software program, manually erase segments, by moving the computer mouse. The effect creates an interesting fusion of perceived as well as created contours that, I believe, both please and engage the mind’s eye.

Lately, I have also been using digital video to explore additional aspects of visual storytelling.
About five years ago, I started by making short documentary profiles for local news outlets using my Apple iPod and a simple Apple editing application, iMovie. These video shorts allowed me to hone my shooting and editing style.

Then, in 2016, I wrote and directed my first narrative film, ‘The Frozen Goose’. This period film, about a rural family coping in the aftermath of WW1, with a cast of five, has exhibited at festivals over the past year, aired on local cable stations, received good media coverage and is now globally available online.

As a result, it is much more likely that people will be aware of my ‘art making’ capabilities via film, than by my pinhole photography or even my signature painted works. That’s just the nature of the beast.

The serious fun part of filming is, in fact, the editing, not the shooting. Why? Because editing moving pictures establishes a basic cognitive resonance between the filmmaker and the viewer in a way that still photography seldom can. With film, the editor intimately ‘tells the story’ from start to finish, leading the viewers’ eye, ear and minds.

With still photography, the reality of viewer distraction is far greater. And the viewer, through their own perceptual bias, ends up mentally quick-editing the stationary image, in order to find their own meaning. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s a more capricious engagement process then creating video stories. It is much much tougher to make an arresting still photograph, let alone, a good pinhole image.

Other than that, I continue to paint two dimensional works, as I have done for over 40+ years. You can sample that kind of work via my art blog. ...

Whose photographic work has influenced you the most in your life? 

Henri Cartier-Bresson. But I don’t know that he has particularly influenced my work. I do very much admire his compositions and acute eye, his way of seeing. We all see so many images now. What seems to hold attention these days is the jarring or often visually upsetting image. But I don’t know that this is really useful or helpful to anyone, in that, we have become somewhat anesthetized and polluted by the vast array of digital photography flicking on multiple screens. They are constantly demanding our attention: “Look at ME!” Think of the constant barrage of ‘attention grabbing’ headline photos of extreme whatever. Our minds are constantly being assaulted by this advertiser-induced stuff to – to just WATCH. My intent, by changing the means of photographic creation – be it through pinhole, photo-montage or white-outs – is to ‘Free the Eye’.

I hope to visually persuade viewers to make new synaptic connections that seduce through gentle curiosity and interest, instead of through heightened uncertainty or horrific pain. Violence doesn’t have to be a mainstay of how we SEE things. ...

Among all of your photographic works, which one is your personal favourite and why is it your favourite?

Oh dear. Impossible to choose. I like many for very different reasons. Light effects, composition, familiarity of subject matter or even the ‘odd ball’ shot. One of my favourite pinhole images, as example, was entirely a mistake. The mounted photo-sensitive paper fell off inside the camera during exposure. The result was a ‘double image’ of the window frame. Interestingly, this image sold to an enthusiastic collector from Portland, Oregon, about a decade ago.

When and how were you originally inspired to become a photographer? Also do you have any formal training that you draw upon?

I became enamored with pinhole photography after taking a one-day workshop with Di Bos, a pinholer of some acclaim here, in Canada, in 2001. I was amazed that a photo image could emerge without using a conventional camera. Aside from that initial pinhole baptism, I have learned 100% by doing.

How do you personally educate yourself to take better pictures? What sort of research do you partake to improve your skills?

The internet, unlike mainstream tell-a-vision, has provided an astonishing array of options to improve HOW we see. I use various web portals to explore HOW others SEE, like Pinterest or Instagram.
If a photograph resonates, I always STOP, and look again to understand WHY. It could be a simple thing like the flow of highlights within a photo, or, alternatively, the absence of light.

Do you use any specific editing software packages or written guides to assist you with the production of your pictures?

No. Pinholing is done manually.

How do you spend your free time when you are not taking pictures?

When we open our eyes in the morning, we immediately start taking mental pictures. This activity guides our hand to turn on the light and find our slippers. The portals of our eyes feed our minds to constantly assess the risks, challenges, pleasures and rewards of daily living. Equally, when we go to bed at night, we zoom off into visual worlds of our memory and our sub-conscious. It’s how our minds work. — What do I DO when not making pictures? I think – and Live.

Tell us more about your upcoming projects. Are you working on anything specific or have plans in the pipeline?

My next pinhole exhibit will be in July of 2018 at the charming Carnegie Gallery in Dundas, Ontario, Canada. The show is intended as a compliment to my fall show that I had at Oakville’s Sovereign House Museum in 2017, entitled ‘SUN SHADOWS’. Some of my older hand-made pinhole cameras will be on display there too. Drop in!

What are the things that you wish that you knew back when you first started taking photos? Do you have any parting words for other aspiring photographers to take to heart?

As I am a painter first, I have always approached photography as another artist’s tool. The primary image-making device, that we all possess, is our own eye. This is an extraordinarily powerful device when fused with the aspirations, neuro-stumbling and imaginations of our minds.

Best advice I can give, Learn to SEE. A good primer about SEEING – clearly – can be found in John Berger’s ‘Ways of Seeing’. (Best to READ the book instead of watching the online documentary.) Think about what you’re reading. Penetrate and understand the inherent stories of the beautiful, good, bad, evil and the ugly that SEEING clearly can convey.

THEN pick up a camera to document what and how you see what you do.
 
The skill is 100% in the SEEING – not in the camera itself.

And that’s a wrap!



Thursday, August 10, 2017

Sun Shadows: New Photo Works by M.L.Holton


Please join me Thanksgiving Weekend at the historic Sovereign House, in the picturesque lake-side village of Bronte/Oakville. I will be showing recent pinhole, photo-montage, and photo-collage image works, and will have several of my pinhole camera 'on deck' to demonstrate how it all works ...

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND! 
Saturday Oct 7th, Sunday the 8th & Monday, Oct. 9th.
 Afternoons ONLY. From 1 to 4pm. 
Hope to see you then!
 Map below and/or link here for directions.

Sovereign House, Photo Credit - M.L.Holton
Gratefully acknowledge funding from the Ontario Arts Council

 UPDATE: Super weekend. Incredible weather & EXCELLENT turn-out (plus sales!) So great to see everyone.

Exterior shots at Sovereign House

 Also managed to catch some shots before the festivities got underway, made a short video of Bronte Harbour locale and Sovereign House location.  Fun stuff. Watch HERE.

Exhibition Prep by M.L.Holton, 2017

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Art Gallery of Hamilton: 'Made in Canada' Gala 2017 - UPDATE

Always fun to find out - after the fact - that one of my works has been included in a Fund-Raising Gala Auction!

The Art Gallery of Hamilton recently hosted a 'MADE IN CANADA' Gala. Apparently, a pinhole photograph of mine that I donated several years ago was 'in'.

Unhappily, the event on May 27th came and went, with me none the wiser ... Still, here are the seeming highlights >

Silent & live auction. Tickets: $350 per person. Dinner & Dancing.
(Proceeds to support programming at the AGH.)



...  Maybe one day I'll find out who actually bought my donated work, and for how much ... 
Artists' do like to know what happens to their generously donated 'freebies' ... HA!


Thursday, March 30, 2017

TIME WARP - Spring 2017 Exhibit by Margaret Lindsay Holton


Please join me, in the evening, 7-8pm, during Hamilton's April Art Crawl - Friday, April 14th.
Exhibit will be up starting from April 11th & runs until May 7th. 4pm.
A selection of pinhole photography, (with one large photo-collage thrown in ... ) 

M.L.Holton with one of her hand-made pinhole cameras. Photo Credit: M. Sui. 

Showing in the Defacto Gallery, at the famed  
- Mulberry Street Coffee House-
193 James Street North,  
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Swing in for a peek & brew!  

Samples of pinhole cameras made by M.L.Holton, Canada. - Photo Credit: M.L.Holton

UPDATE: May 2017 - Great Exhibit! Thanks for coming everyone! 
Here's moi during 'installation' mid April ... 
Learn more about pinhole photography HERE


Monday, August 8, 2016

FASM Fall Studio Tour, 2016! - M.L.Holton Pinhole Photos and Cameras, at Doris Treleaven's Metalworking Studio


Wow. Just got the snazzy looking brochures for the Fine Art Society of Milton Fall Studio Tour. 
36 artists at 26 different locations in and around the Escarpment area of Milton, Ontario.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
TWO DAY TOUR: 10am -5pm

Very please to announce that this year I will be showing as a 'Guest' of Doris Treleaven, a metal worker of both big and small projects. Her studio is HUGE! (Location 25, on above map.)  From my end, I'll be showcasing my pinhole photography  as well as giving small demos with my hand-made pinhole cameras, (no darkroom though!).

 AWARD WINNING Pinhole PHOTOGRAPHY
Copyright: ' Granny's Lounger'  by M.L.Holton (Canada)


Come check us out at LOCATION 25 on the map, 13016 5th Line. Just NORTH of Limehouse, EAST of Acton and WEST Georgetown. Very easy to find, SOUTH off Hwy 7.  The map/brochures are available around the area, starting this week, LOOK for them.

And/or download your own map/brochure, via FASM website in LATE AUGUST.

UPDATE, Oct 4th: A few quiet moments from this year's tour .... All in all, given the gray weather, it was surprisingly busy  - with people coming from as far afield as Toronto, Barrie and downtown. Oakville Doris's studio, just outside of Acton (as marked above, and seen below), is a treasure trove for eclectic 'metal-art' shoppers. She uses other materials too, like stain glass & wood etc., on commissions. If passing thru the area, make sure you do take 1/2 an hour to check out this truly unique artist & her busy workshop.



Short 12 minute documentary of Doris's metal-working 
studio now published on Raise the Hammer.

UPDATE: Nice bit of press from the Milton Champion. 
(Note -  tour has ALWAYS run for two days, that's nothing 'new'.) 
UPDATE: ha - who knew?!? Was also listed as a 'Culture Days' event, (listed by FASM.)

UPDATE, Jan, 2017.
Cleaning up the2016  desk top, came on this shot of my set-up.
Not the best shot, but hey, posterity! 

 

Monday, August 26, 2013

Smith's Funeral Homes Celebrates 75 Years of Business in Burlington, Ontario


To celebrate this occasion, Smith's has created a three-way competition - best essay, and photograph that reflects the past, and a multi-media category that forecasts the future. Entires have been coming in since May, 2013.  More general information here.


I am thrilled and delighted to announce that my pinhole photo entry, 'Granny's Lounger',  has been selected as a finalist. The awards ceremony will take place at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre on September 12th from 5-7pm. See you there! 

 

 Recent press in Burlington Post ... 

  Update: WOOHOO! - Got '3rd Prize' for my pinhole image.  And a VERY NICE cheque.    Judges' Remarks:  "The photographer describes the pinhole photograph as 'slow photography' and I would also add 'timeless photography'. The capture is a wonderful work of art. Its imagery is what makes it an award winner; I believe that it embodies the spirit of what Burlington life is all about."

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Art Gallery of Hamilton's SUPER AUCTION, Oct 23rd


The Art Gallery of Hamilton is having a SUPER Fundraising AUCTION on October 23rd, hosted by Sotheby's of Canada, at the gallery. Some really FANTASTIC items are available for purchase. Don't miss out. Featuring Bush, Braque, McEwen, Pudlat, Ensor, Riopelle, Astman, Whiten, Urquhart, Bateman Morrisseau and yah me - Holton - among many others. (See: Lot 125 - my ever-popular pinhole image, 'Granny's Lounger' (2005) - with a list value of $1200 (Cdn). Kindly note: this is NOT a digitized 'ink jet' print, but rather, a paper-print pulled from a paper-negative, shot with a home-made pinhole camera, made by yours truly. Yes - It is Rare AND Original.) 


As a warm-up prelude to the BIG one, three on-line auctions are also happening via the AGH.
More info here:   http://www.artgalleryofhamilton.com/superauction.php 

To purchase tickets, pre-register and obtain absentee bid forms for the SUPER AUCTION, please call 905.527.6610, ext. 248 or email arlene@artgalleryofhamilton.com.


PREVIEW: 
Super Auction Live Exhibition ON VIEW 
September 22 through to October 23rd.  
Check it out!


Thursday, February 9, 2012

BUSH CHORD: Poems & Pinhole Photography ...................... Now available as E-Book on Amazon.ca

FINALLY, 
the SECOND edition of my ever popular 
2006 poetry & pinhole photography book:
 E-Book

Front cover pinhole image: 'Grand Blue Spruce'

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

'PHOTO-OP 2011' - John B. Aird Gallery - - - 900 Bay Street, Downtown, Toronto, CA

 'Toronto Thru Summer Screen' - 1/1 - Pinhole by mlholton

Opening this Thursday, May 5th, 'Photo-Op 2011' exhibits excellence in photographic art practice as part of the city-wide CONTACT Photography Festival for the month of May. The CONTACT 'theme' this year is 'Figure and Ground' exploring the intimate & complex 'relationship' we have with our environment. 

Jurors - Sophie Hackett, Assistant Curator of Photography at the Art Gallery of Ontario & Simon Glass, a Toronto-based photographer & the Associate Dean, Faculty of Art at OCAD University - viewed 263 images from 125 artists. The 3rd Annual Juried photography at the Gallery features 37 original artworks by emerging and professional photographers. Of the 37 items included for exhibition, I've got TWO pinholes in this show. (Yeh me!!! - sample above)

Show officially opens May 3rd with an Opening Reception on Thursday May 5th, 6-8pm. Exhibition closes Friday, May 27th, 2011. So, if you have a chance, do pop on in to this one! Lotsa fun for everyone!

Gallery Open: Monday to Friday, 10am - 6pm. 
Closed on statutory holidays.

Streetview of Aird Gallery, 900 Yonge Street in Macdonald Block




Birdseye View of John B. Aird Gallery, from famed TIFF Sutton Hotel
John B. Aird Gallery
900 Bay Street
(Macdonald Block)
Toronto
M7A 1C2

 (The John B. Aird Gallery is located on the first floor of the Macdonald Block, an administrative office building in the heart of Queen’s Park, the seat of the Government of the Province of Ontario. The Macdonald Block is situated at the corner of Bay & Wellesley in downtown Toronto. The building and gallery are wheelchair accessible & can be reached by public transit. Buses run regularly from several subway stops, north/south along Bay Street and east/west along Wellesley Street. The closest subway stop is the Wellesley station. After exiting the station, walk west along Wellesley to Bay and enter the Macdonald Block, on the south/west corner, via the Bay Street entrance ... ) 

For more gallery info, link 'here'

'Small is Good' @ The Print Studio, Hamilton. Opens April 8th, 2011 - EXTENDED!

'Small is Good'
 ... displays the work of various artists from all over Southern Ontario. All artwork is priced at $100 to encourage purchase. Proceeds will go to support a facility that provides artists with a working space, specialized equipment, tech support, professional development and resources.

I've put in a small pinhole ... sample above. 
More mlh pinholes 
& general pinhole information - here.

More info about the gallery exhibit - here.
Just learned that this exhibit has been extended.
So, if you missed it in April, put it on
the roster for MAY ... :)

Monday, July 19, 2010

MEMORY’S SHADOW: Pinhole & Photo-Collage Photography by Margaret LIndsay Holton


If you just can't get to Southern Ontario before August 19th, I strongly advise getting a copy of the book 'MEMORY'S SHADOW: Pinhole & Photo Collage Photography' (as seen above) by moi.

With 55 never-before-seen additional images, (and an incisive 'fore-word' by Canada's very own OUTSTANDING documentary film-maker, Peter Wintonick), this hardcover BOOK really is a NATIONAL TREASURE

 With only 50 copies available in this 'Collector's First Ediiton' - priced at just $160 (plus tax) - it's a steal! 

Excellent review by Jeff Mahoney of the Hamilton Spectator - here.

Order below with Paypal and/or your credit card. 

UPDATE: As of November 2013, only 24 copies remain. 





Need help with this purchase? Contact -
  mlhpro at hotmail dot com



Exhibition ENDS August 19th, 2010.



Monday, July 5, 2010

'MEMORY'S SHADOW' @ The Burlington Art Centre, Summer 2010

MEMORY'S SHADOW:
Pinhole & Photo Collage Photography
 by Margaret Lindsay Holton
 
Exhibiting in  The F.R. Perry Gallery 
Opening: JULY 15th  Closing: AUGUST19th. 


Artist's Reception: SUNDAY, July 18th, 2-4pm.
Artist's Talk: Monday, July 26th, 6:30pm
Gallery Hours: M-Th, 9a-10pm, Fri&Sat 9a-5pm, Sun 12a-5pm
Exhibition Catalogue by David Macfarlane



Excellent REVIEW by Jeff Mahoney, 
Art Critic of the Hamilton Spectator - here.


MEMORY'S SHADOW,
the complimentary hard-cover PHOTOBOOK -
with foreword by award-winning 
Canadian documentary film-maker, 
Peter Wintonick O.C. 
- is NOW available - link 'here'.


Artist Statement:

I have long been fascinated by how the human mind ‘records' things, events and moments in time and how those memories are later evoked thru the means of storytelli ng. The emotional tonal value of memories often shape-shift until they calcify into a ‘story' worth telling. These tales, in turn, provide us with identity. They act as cohesive glue and connect us as families, friends, group-tribes, and even, nation states.

We all carry emotional connections to past incidences. These emotional connections often ‘exist' in a fuzzy zone that swirls between fact and fiction. What ‘authenticates' a memory is often a physical thing, some kind of talisman or ‘keepsake' – like a piece of furniture or jewelry, a familiar landmark or a photograph. The physicality of these items ground the story and sets the tale in Real Time and Place.

However, our current superabundant capacity to photo-document EVER YTHING has begun to dramatically alter and even replace the other means by which we do ‘record' our own individual human experiences. For example, we all know that television is omnipresent in every North American home and is often the ‘focus' of family life and early education. There, we are inundated with an assortment of ‘crafted' memories that are primarily designed to induce us to buy stuff. Interspersed throughout these commercials is ‘entertainment' or ‘news' that supposedly inform us of all that goes on in the world outside the realm of our own experience. As a net result, OUR memories are increasingly ‘built' by producers/directors, writers and photographers that have absolutely NOTHING to do with the day-to-day evolution of our own physicality in our own naturally evolving landscape. Most now willingly accept this as ‘the norm'. Collectively, we have allowed external manufactured memories to define, and bind, us. Friends now ‘connect' when they talk about their favourite ‘tell-a-vision' shows …

Lately though, within the past decade, there has been a major shift in our memory or image consumption because, increasingly, through the internet, and with such distribution channels as YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, and Facebook, we are no longer at the mercy of bulk mass-produced corporate image-makers of memories. We are now telling our OWN quirky stories, yet using the SAME tools. We too can now ‘play back', ‘rewind', ‘fast forward' or simply ‘surf'. We can drag a past moment forward into the present, and then, if we like, physically reshape that moment to have a future ‘life', as a ‘new' image. We can now manipulate and EDIT our own recorded photo images with ease. We have all BECOME our own producers, directors, writers and photo editors. We can all technologically manufacture our own memories.

My own sense though is that this heavy emphasis on the technology to actually re-PLACE our authentic Selves in time and space acutely undermines our own INNATE capacity to ‘remember' who and what we have been and are doing. We have FORGOTTEN that photography is ONLY a tool to document a memory - not the ‘memory event' itself.

With this book (and exhibit), it is my desire to stimulate a deliberate ‘dissonance' and force the viewer outside the seamless ‘comfort zone' of contemporary ‘DOC-U-ME photojournalism'.

I want to re-engage the viewer's Mind's Eye using the INNATE memory mech anisms OF OUR OWN MINDS to re-awaken the inner Self to the essential non-chronological components of our individual capacity for ‘memory making' and authentic self-expressive ‘story telling'….

I have done this by juxtaposing the eerie grounded Black and White ‘realism' of pinhole photography with the ephemeral capriciousness of heavily edited transparent collage colour photography.

I think it works - IN THE MIND ... What do YOU think?

- 78 images have been published in this COLLECTOR'S EDITION
- 22 images will be in Exhibition. Opening July, 2010

...

I'm READY! Come on over!!


Keep me posted of Lindsay's up-coming events -



Wednesday, April 14, 2010

BURST! Spring Art Sale @ The Art Gallery of Hamilton, April 29 - May 2, 2010


 April 29 to May 2, 2010
Join us as the AGH’s Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Pavilion is transformed into a four-day showcase for art lovers and art collectors hosting the best from specially invited local and regional artists. Works that are perfect for your home, office or garden.

Thursday, April 29 ~ Noon to 9 pm
Friday, April 30 ~ Noon to 9 pm
Saturday, May 1 ~ Noon to 5 pm
Sunday, May 2 ~ Noon to 5 pm


The AGH Art Sale offers original artworks to suit every budget and décor; enhance your own collection or choose that special gift.
 Come see (and buy!) pinhole photographs by moi - !

 The Art Gallery of Hamilton (123 King Street West, Hamilton - Ph:  905-527-6610) is located in the downtown core of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on the western end of beautiful Lake Ontario.  
Come visit ...


OPENING NIGHT - 'Private Reception': April 28th 6-9pm: 
Just got back from a GREAT evening ... lots of new and old faces, great PINOT and many yummy 'horsey do-overs'; met a few members of the Board - Rick Court & Alan Baird - very personable fellas, plus Louise Dompierre, HAG's Principal Director/Curator - ever 'cheery' & welcoming ... Artists and patrons 'swirled' for several hours admiring, and buying art. This 4 day  'spring sale' continues until Sunday, so get your Selves over there: - check out what's new, up-and-coming and just flat-out GREAT. Lots of variety, lots of different mediums, lots of talent - if I say so my Self!  ( ... more shameless self-promotion ... :)
(This last (digital) shot was taken when I got home to the lake around 9:30p - a full moon glistening - a fitting 'nightcap' to a good night ... )