Photography

Canada > Archive by tag 'Photography'

Hot Art: A Photo Anthology at the University of Toronto

Robert Frank's Chattanooga, Tennessee

JANUARY 24 TO MARCH 10 The timeless art of assemblage earns attention this season as the University of Toronto Art Centre showcases more than 200 images from the collection of Harry and Ann Malcolmson. One of Canada’s most impressive private stocks of vintage photography, this archive represents a trove of documentary and artistic works that exemplify the medium’s historical development and its major creative movements. Featuring diverse images by the likes of Robert Frank, André Kertész, Man Ray and photographic pioneer Henry Fox Talbot, the display reminds us how collections are at once composed of individual pieces, but gain consequence through their “being together.”

Hot Art: Hiroshima History at Vancouver’s Museum of Anthropology

#88 by Ishiuchi Miyako "Wristwatch," 2010/2010 C-type print, 335 x 230, Okimoto S.

August 6, 1945. It’s a date not forgotten by many, but a Japanese photographer aims to document it for posterity with her 48 moving images of everyday objects left behind by the victims of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II. Photos of these ownerless belongings, including a wristwatch (pictured), give a personal take on the event in hiroshima by Ishiuchi Miyako at the UBC Museum of Anthropology (to Feb. 12).—Kristina Urquhart

Hot Dates: The Distance Between You and Me at Vancouver Art Gallery

To January 22

"The Distance Between You and Me 15" by Gonzalo Lebrija courtesy the artist and Gallerie Laurent Godin, Paris

What do Vancouver, Los Angeles and Guadalajara have in common? Just ask Isabelle Pauwels, Kerry Tribe and Gonzalo Lebrija, a trio of photo and video artists who share similar ideas about physical and psychological location and dislocation despite living in different cities. See their work in The Distance Between You and Me at Vancouver Art Gallery.—Kristina Urquhart

Hot Art: History Lesson

"Kenyan Water Hole No. 1" by Alfred J. Klein, 1933, courtesy Satellite Gallery

Step back in time during Nature, Knowledge and the Knower at Satellite Gallery (to Jan 14). You’ll see three panoramic photograph enlargements taken in Kenya between 1920 and 1930 (“Kenyan Water Hole No. 1” by Alfred J. Klein, pictured), which were later used to aid in the creation of the habitat dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History. Complementing the exhibition is an online archive of over 400 photos by explorer James L. Clark and other artists. —Kristina Urquhart

More information:

SATELLITE GALLERY 560 Seymour St., 2nd floor; 604-687-8425

Hot Art: Fusing Painting and Photography

"Lunch @ Times Square" by Claudia Salguero.

Photo editing has become a popular way to beautify, correct, or enhance photos, but Claudia Salguero’s “Urbano Beats” uses the technique for a completely different purpose: she digitally paints over a photo and manipulates it to add artistic touches that did not exist before. In this exhibit, combining the realism of a photograph with the fantasy of a painting puts an intriguing postmodern twist on her subjects. Her distinct pieces will be on display at Trinity Art Gallery from Dec. 1 to Jan. 10 (the vernissage takes place Dec. 4 from 1 to 3pm).

Hot Art: 44 Wide Mounts Your Memories

With digital cameras now an essential travel tool, it’s become a cliché that you’re bound to take almost too many photos on your trip—images that will be scanned through by friends and family and quickly forgotten. Ensure your best shot doesn’t get lost in the shuffle by taking it to 44 Wide. This Liberty Village printing house and gallery offers unique services to help preserve and showcase your images. Its “Camera to Canvas” ($180) service prints your photo on a high-quality 16-by-20-inch canvas that’s then protected, wrapped and mounted by hand. Or opt for “Photo to Frame” ($270), which sets your image in a wood frame and allows you to add your own personal sentiment on the back. No matter how you display it, your picture is sure to look its absolute best—every photo is treated to hands-on enhancement by professional re-touchers.

Hot Art: Roy Arden at Monte Clark Gallery

"Help the Artists!" photo courtesy Roy Arden and Monte Clark Gallery

Branching Out

Sometimes, change is good. Local contemporary photographer Roy Arden shows that to be true in Vox at Monte Clark Gallery (Nov. 24 to Jan. 7), leaving his camera behind in favour of other media. Arden tries his talented hand at paintings, sculpture and mixed-media collages (“Help the Artists!,” pictured), exploring the notion of the voice through subtle art history and pop culture references.—Kristina Urquhart

More information:

MONTE CLARK GALLERY 2339 Granville St. 604-730-5000. www.monteclarkgallery.com

Hot Dates: Eastside Culture Crawl

"River" by artist Afuwa

November 18 to 20

If your boots are made for walking, step out for this weekend festival as it kicks off its 15th year. Download a map from the Crawl’s website and get set to visit over 300 artists in their studios on this free, self-guided tour. You’ll see tons of local talent, including printmaker and painter Afuwa, whose work explores myth and identity (“River,” pictured). Better yet, you’ll have the chance to talk to these sculptors, jewellers, photographers and other visual artists to see what makes them tick.—Kristina Urquhart

More information:

EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL (Nov 18-20). F 5 pm-10 pm, Sa-Su 11 am-6 pm. Printable map online. Free. 604-817-9130. www.eastsideculturecrawl.com

Hot Date: National Geographic’s Lenses of Wonder

National Geographic photographer Mattias Klum

NOVEMBER 1 & DECEMBER 6 Photographer and filmmaker Mattias Klum guides you through some of the Earth’s natural wonders in Being There: On Expedition with National Geographic. Marvel at Klum’s still images and high-definition video from Botswana’s Okavango Delta and the rainforests of Southeast Asia. Then dive into the blue at Ocean Soul: Photographing the Underwater World for National Geographic and discover the vast, veiled world that exists beneath the waves. Brian Skerry leads you through the glacial waters of the North Atlantic and the coral reefs of the central Pacific. Roy Thomson Hall, 8 p.m., $39.50 to $59.50; visit here or call 416-872-4255 to purchase tickets.

Hot Entertainment: Bright Lights

Vancouver's neon signs of yore

In the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, Vancouver streets were awash in neon signs advertising everything from tailors and funeral parlours to hotels and beauty salons. Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver (opening Oct. 13 at the Museum of Vancouver) captures some of these favourite signs from the city’s past and also includes urban photography by Walter Griba.—Sheri Radford

More information:

Museum of Vancouver

Tu-Su 10 am-5 pm, Th to 8 pm. $12, s/s $10, 5-17 $8, under 5 free.

1100 Chestnut St. in Vanier Park. 604-736-4431.

www.museumofvancouver.ca

Travel Tuesday Q&A with Photojournalist Kirsten Murphy

Kirsten Murphy is a self-taught photojournalist based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She travels around the north as a regular contributor for Up Here magazine and a sometime host and producer for CBC. A recent trip to Ivvavik National Park in the Yukon was featured in the Globe and Mail. Her work has also appeared in Maclean’s and the National Post, in Frommer’s guidebooks and on CBC.ca. She’s excited about working on a book about northern dogs and a photo essay about emerging chicken farms in Hay River, Northwest Territories.

What brought you to Yellowknife (from Vancouver) in the first place? Why have you stayed?

I saw an ad for “Arctic journalists” back in 2000. The timing was perfect because I was scraping by as a freelancer in Vancouver. I planned to stay one year but the North gets into your blood. I quickly discovered this is the land of photographic opportunity. The extremes in weather, lighting, geography and culture are awesome.

How did you get started in travel photography?

I’m more of a traveling photojournalist than a travel photographer. Up here we rely on planes, especially small ones, to get into communities. The funny thing is you can drive into many of these same communities in the winter, when the ice roads and ice crossings are open. Even so, you don’t have to go far to find amazing subject matter. I’ll be taking out the garbage or walking my dog and there are the northern lights kicking up a lighting storm.
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Mimic a DSLR with These iPhone Accessories

By Carissa Bluestone

If you’ve started to view your iPhone as an SLR that also texts, you probably have a half-dozen apps that work around the phone’s limitations to mimic a real camera’s capabilities. But to turn your iPhone into a “real camera” you need hardware, too. We would love to see the Leica i9 concept, which encases an iPhone in a Leica camera body for the best of both worlds, become a reality. But until that happens, you can rig a better camera with the help of a few basic accessories:

A real lens. For the practical and budget-minded, there’s the Olloclip 3-in-1 lens, a demure clip-and-flip system of fisheye, wide angle and macro lenses. For the shutterbugs with deep pockets and a sense of humor, there’s the Photojojo SLR Mount, a combo adapter that allows you attach your giant Canon EOS or Nikon SLR lenses to your tiny phone.
A rugged case. If you’re going to hang a real lens off your phone you should probably ditch the cutesy Paul Frank case. The current favorite among gear geeks is a 6-oz. titanium case from Snow Peak. Photojojo — which is basically a one-stop shopping for cool iPhone accessories — makes a walnut case with felt padding engraved with an old-timey camera image.
A tripod. Breathe normally and your iPhone photos will look like they were taken from inside a speeding car. The smartphone tripod market is already pretty saturated, but in terms of portability and flexibility, Joby’s Gorilla line, with it’s spiderlike ability to cling to uneven surfaces, rules. The Glif tripod mount has received every superlative in the tech-nerd book, as it allows you to use any tripod you have on hand, and can be used on its own to make your phone hands-free.

5 Smartphone Photo Tips

An Instagram-ed image of Montreal's Tavern Le Normand. Photo by misspixels

Nothing beats the heft of an SLR lens or the cool of an artfully beat-up camera bag, but most trip photography these days consists of hastily snapped iPhone photos. A series of graphs on Flickr show that (a) the majority of the site’s photos are uploaded via the iPhone, not with digital SLRs or point-and-shoots, and (b) the iPhone beats the pants off of all other camera phones. Plus, the iPhone 5 is likely to arrive in the next few weeks; specs to be announced on Tuesday.

But no matter which operating system you pray to, there are some common tips for mastering smartphone photography:

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Take Better Photos with National Geographic’s New Book

By Carissa Bluestone

Eighteen megapixels, four lenses and thousands of bucks later and your travel photos still lack pizzazz? You might want to preorder National Geographic’s newest book, Complete Photography, due out October 14. The hardcover contains 408 pages of advice from long-time National Geographic shooters and is splashed with several hundred of the magazine’s most arresting photographs. The tone isn’t terribly engaging, and advice like, “Photograph food near a window, if possible, where the soft, indirect light makes it look the most natural,” won’t impress experienced shooters. But the rest of us will find plenty of insider tips covering everything from camera basics to the peculiarities of underwater photography, all simply and clearly laid out. National Geographic is meting out some teaser tips on its blog leading up to publication.

For more travel-photo tips, check out Stuck in Customs, the most popular travel photography blog on the interweb, and Burn magazine, by Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey.

Hot Art: Rural Arts

"Watching the Men Watch the Horses" by Earl Graham.

To October 2 From a life-like painting of colony farming to stained glasswork depicting a grain elevator to stylized portraiture, the Manitoba Arts Networks’ 9th Annual Rural and Northern Art Show highlights the talented skill and diversity of work by rural Manitoba artists. Paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture, stained glass and more are displayed on the 2nd floor at Pavilion Gallery Museum. The prize-winning works are selected from each region of Manitoba in six annual juried art shows. At the Conservatory, the Foyer Gallery showcases work by emerging youth artists in Manitoba. 55 Pavilion Crescent, Assiniboine Park, 927-6000.

Photo Friday: Loon in Dogtooth Lake, Rushing River Provincial Park, Ontario Canada

Every Friday, we will be featuring a travel photo from our readers that inspires you to explore Canada. We want to showcase your adventures whether it’s of a park, a city scape, nature or an interesting character. Join our Flickr Group so we can easily find you. In exchange for use of the photo, we will credit your name and link to your photo. If you have a particular theme that you would like us to showcase, let us know on Facebook or Twitter.

Loon, Rushing River Provincial Park, Ontario Photo: coollessons2004 (Flickr CC)

Overpass, Edmonton

Overpass Edmonton Photo: Lydia Bociuruiw

Hot Dates: David Burdeny

"Gondolas, Venice, Italy" by David Burdeny

To August 31

Beat the heat this summer with a visit to a cool local art house. Jennifer Kostuik Gallery’s current group show includes local photographer David Burdeny’s Ancora series. The hand-developed chromogenic print “Gondolas, Venice, Italy, 2010” (pictured) was shot with a long exposure and filters to create a sense of surrealism. Dreamy, indeed.—Kristina Urquhart

Hot Art: Focus on Afghanistan

Laisa-e-Maarifat (Merefat School), Dasht-e-Barchi, Mualim Aziz Royish principal, Western Kabul, Afghanistan, 4/12/08 DSCF2104.

From Aug 12 Vancouver-based artist Jayce Salloum and Khadim Ali, a Hazara-Afghani artist living in Pakistan, collaborate on an exhibit at Plug In ICA of photography, video work and objects made together in Afghanistan. Wed-Sat noon-9 pm; Sun noon- 5 pm. Free admission. Unit 1 – 460 Portage Ave, 942-1043, Map 1: P-2

Hot Art: Frame of Mind

Shire of Fife, east coast of Scotland, September 2008, Hans Arnold.

Aug 2-28 With an appreciation of the fine detail and brilliant lighting found in Renaissance paintings, Hans Arnold applies this revered style to his breathtaking photos. In ReFramed: Defining the Art of Photography at Pixels 2.1, Arnold chose the title to emphasize how photography is first framed in the camera and reframed for gallery viewing. The majority of his 40 large format images displayed feature landscapes and nature captured in Canada, from the vast lakes of Manitoba to the fall colours in Quebec. 217 McDermot Ave, 415-5480, Map 1: O-4.