blink! photography

Photography Course

On January 23 and February 6 I had the opportunity to guest-lecture for the Photography & Film course at Providence College. In the first class I spoke on some of the basics of photography - Rule of Thirds, aperature, shutter speed, iso, lighting, etc. Important stuff, but fairly mundane in a classroom setting. The second class is where I really enjoyed myself. In this class I talked about my philosophy of photography - which you are familiar with if you have read some of the history on this website. I love talking about my work as a vehicle for communicating the dignity of others. Key to this class was the invitation I gave to the students to present an image or two of their own and open themselves up for critique, always a worthwhile excercise, and to present what they could about their own philosophy - what motivates them to create images. A memorable class for me; I hope the same for the students.

Habitat for Humanity

During the week of July 12-18 I had the opportunity to volunteer my photographic services on the build site for Habitat for Humanity here in Winnipeg. There were three duplexes being built for six families - who I had the privilege to meet. I have a lot of respect for the work that Habitat does in providing families with the opportunity for owning their own homes.

Habitat does not give out freebies - they hold the mortgages on all the properties they provide and require that families continue to pay off their homes. The terms that the families have to work with, however, are a far cry from those the banks are able to provide, and are customized to each families individual needs. There is a lot of detail that goes into the structure of these financial terms, but I think the best part is that the homeowners spend a significant amount of time in the building of their own homes, as well as learning basic home maintenance skills.

If you are interested in making a very real difference in your local community, I encourage you to volunteer for a build. I encourage you to support Habitat financially, of course, but the opportunity to do some "hands-on" work is indescribably wonderful.

The people in the Habitat for Humanity image gallery are a mix of some of the soon-to-be homeowners (blue helmets), volunteers, and Habitat for Humanity staff.

Still at it

It has been awhile since my last post, but I haven't been entirely dormant in my activity. I was interviewed by a local newspaper, the Indo-Canadian Telegram, following the travel presentation on India which I delivered at McNally Robison Booksellers in February. They had a wonderful article and featured a number of my images in full-colour.

Since mid-March I have had most of my in-stock framed and matted images on display in the new(ish) library at Providence College. The college has been wonderfully supportive of my work and it looks like I may have an opportunity to deliver a class or two in their Photography and Film course. I hope that this works out - I would love the opportunity to share with aspiring artists both my technical methodology and my philosophical motive in my photography.

I have also been approched by the Manitoba Camera Club to be a guest speaker at their November 11 monthly meeting. I look forward to the opportunity to rub shoulders with others in the industry.