Artist’s statement

I have found that small details in life are often overlooked. In my first year as a photographer, I have found that general pictures of landscape or the city do not interest me. However, focusing in on one person, or a detail in nature does. For example, at the St. Lawrence market, there are large buildings and lots of people and cars. However, I found that the most interesting thing was a small flock of birds hidden behind a fence.

These details can be anything from someone playing guitar outside who gets lost in the business of Queen Street to a reflection in a puddle that is beautiful, despite the cigarette right beside it. Picking these details out not only makes for good photography, but has helped me to develop my photographic eye. Every so often, very normal things seem to become interesting, such as the pattern of lines on a roof, seen from a window. Contrast in texture and colour have become more interesting through the process of picking out these small, isolated details that would otherwise be unnoticed.

One of the great things I have found about digital photography is that these details can be made even more evident through the use of Photoshop. This is not to say that they are fabricated or twisted, but emphasized. For example, an image can be desaturated, leaving only one element in colour. Objects can be sharpened and others can be blurred to create selective focus. Photoshop has been a very important element of my photography.

When I began photography, I figured there must be some purpose to it for me. I do not intend to become a photojournalist and do not see myself selling prints of my work years down the line. However, it is my hope that the skill my photographic and artistic eye has developed, of noticing small details and of finding beauty where there appears to be none, will develop even further. It is my hope that this new skill will carry over to other elements of my life and I can pay more attention to detail and notice things that were invisible to me before.

Inspiration:

My photographic inspiration is Henry Cartier-Bresson. Not only did he produce excellent art despite hardships in his life (such as being taken prisoner by the Germans in World War II), but he created a very definitive style. His work was based on the ‘in the moment’ idea, capturing everyday details of life. He once wrote, “In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject”. Studying Cartier-Bresson has surely helped me to develop my own enjoyment of photographing the small details of things.