First Gallery Exhibit!

2023 Begins with a Bang!

January 2023 was filled with a new experience, my first every gallery exhibit! I was invited to participate with nine other photographers in a gallery display in White Rock. It was a very worthwhile experience. Knowing that three of my recent students would also be presenting made it so much more fun but also was a kick in the butt to get in the game.

The most challenging but rewarding part was the preparation. Deciding on a theme, sorting through thousands of images, narrowing down the options, repeat, repeat. It was very much an evolutionary process until I reached my final selection of ten images. The reward was the clarification in my own mind of what I am trying to say with my photographs.

The next step was deciding how to present them. Paper or canvas prints? Framing? Matte? I settled on printing them all myself with my printer at home. Then mounted each one on foam core. Here’s a quick glimpse of the final assembly stage.

Soon it was time to hang the images and then the people began streaming into the gallery.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

The interest and visits by all of you who made it to the gallery was so very much appreciated. I felt honoured by the visits, messages and photos of your visits. Thanks to each one of you.

And for those who couldn’t make it, here are the images I had on display. The theme I chose was The Character of Trees. Each image depicts an expressive rendition of a tree. This involved the use of in-camera techniques and does not include Photoshop manipulation.

Giant cedar tree trunk — Forest Monarch. This giant Cedar stands tall.

Triptych of coastal trees in wind — Delicate and Determined. These tiny trees overcome the wind, cold and salt spray in their determination to grow and thrive on a rocky outcrop.

trees dancing in the breeze — On the forest edge, a group of trees reveal their beauty as they dance with joy.

A roadway through a forest looks like a tunnel. — The Tunnel is a well known road on Gabriola Island, BC.

Photography in the style of Emily Carr — Inspired by the forest paintings of Emily Carr, this image is the result of camera motion.

Giant cedars and path — In an ancient rainforest, the pathway among the giant trees is hallowed.

A nearly bare tree holds on to its last few leaves — The looming and ominous arrival of winter is bravely resisted by this determined tree.

a bent tree from Nitobe Gardens, UBC — An old tree, bent with age, guards the path.

gallery exhibit of autumn tree — Hanging on to it’s glorious fall colours, this tree calls out, “Not yet, Winter!”

Thoughts for Photographers

Although the exhibit took place in January, I allowed myself the month of November to narrow my selection of images. This gave me the luxury of time to continually revisit the selection, which really did change over time. When I began printing them in December, I spread them all out and wasn’t pleased with several of the images, which were divided into two sets. Back to the drawing board. I narrowed my focus and settled on the set of images shown here.

Is it worth it to put together an exhibit? Yes! The process of selecting the images helped me to clarify what’s important to me in my images. It’s easy to do that when looking at the work of others but hardest when we look at our own. And this clarity will influence my photographic projects going forward.

2023 Begins with a Bang!

Thoughts for Photographers

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