Community Service
What I got into; where I'm going
(Photos are from a volunteer gig last evening for 100 Watt Productions and their new show at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa, “STUFF”—recommended.)
I’ve been reflecting in recent weeks on the “why” of what I’m doing—whether it’s the right mix of gigs, whether it’s too much or too little, what I should reaffirm my gratitude for, and what I should (re)focus on.
In 2020, about a year before I really started taking pictures, I learned about Faisa Omer’s work representing her community in west-end Ottawa. I taught—and continue to teach, now with a photography program—there, at Woodroffe High School. The idea, which Faisa in part inspired me to do, was that maybe I could represent communities—those I’m a part of, and maybe even to some extent to those I’m less a part of (an open question). Many times, I’ve started to photograph a community I was not a part of, and now I am. I love that.
In photography, the adage is that a picture is light, composition, and moment. That’s how they’re made—but how they’re received, that’s representation, storytelling, and community. When your community is documented and reflected back to itself, it does become easier to imagine. I think it becomes stronger as a result.
And so far, that’s definitely where most of my energy has gone. I didn’t intend to turn it into a business, but different kinds of images demand different lenses, lenses require money, and time is finite and valuable. Walt Disney once said, “We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” Besides that, in my experience there’s next to zero correlation between how much a job pays and how much a photo is worth—and of course not. Pay no attention to that.
I think I’m still in the baby stages of figuring out or conceiving who I am as a photographer-as-artist, so to speak. I think I may have found it a little bit in my portrait work this year, and in my analog stuff. That hasn’t really been a concern to me—my concern has been all about serving communities. Maybe that is the artist statement. But I don’t think so—I think every good photographer has at least a side to them that is all about personal projects; images grouped by a strong conceptual focus and process (often interrelated).
I’m excited to explore and slowly figure out what a completely personal project might look like for me. Chances are I have plenty of time. One idea I joked about with my friend Gary was concept of a zine called “Just Give Me a Second”, or something to that effect—and the idea is a self-imposed constraint that every portrait has to be taken with a one second shutter. Flash would be allowed; any format. Probably all film though. Part of the idea would be to get to know some friends a little better through the project. Just thinking aloud here. I think I’ll do it this summer. I’m deeply looking forward to the extra time and fewer obligations July and August are going to afford me.
Another direction in terms of personal work might involve getting into large format. I’ve long admired the work of Ben Horne and his work in nature and landscapes using an 8 by 10 intrepid. (Talking about slowing down with analog—why not go all the way?)
It’s helpful to reflect on everything. I’m deeply grateful for all the work I’ve been able to do, and I’m also reaching for balance. I think it might take a while, partly because I feel a good sense of urgency still about what I’m doing.
But I’ll get there.