Remarks On My Work

Jerald W. Blackstock

I was sitting in Barney Googles Ice Cream Parlor with Willa the daughter of the famous W.O. Mitchell. We were buddies. This was high school 1970 and I had an essay to write and I didn’t know how. Willa said, “Dad says to write the way you talk.”

So began my love with first person narrative. “The first person is a narrative style as old as storytelling itself—one that, at its best, allows us to experience the world through another person’s eyes.” –anon.

When I discovered painting and drawing and I was stuck for subject matter. My teacher said, “just describe what’s in front of you, you’ll never be stuck.” So, in other words, use first person narrative.

When I had stroke and my mobility kept me in a wheelchair, I described what that was like and the psychological tools I used to deal with life. That was my first book.

I lost painting and drawing with the stroke so I added cameras and computers. When it came to what to photograph the answer was the same. What’s in front of me.

So it would seem that I have combined street photography with first person narrative, experiencing the word through other person’s eyes.

My teachers taught me the best art is a record of a human experience.

Well here is mine.

www.jeraldblackstock.ca