Factory Update

Factories continue to fascinate me. I have an ongoing project with the Breithaupt Block factory, photographing its revitalization. There are, of course, still vestiges of its earlier days. The windows always capture my imagination. Sometimes it's the glass itself that provides an interesting colour or texture. But sometimes it is what is beyond the window, what is outside, that gives us something interesting.

There is, even after more than a year of work, much of the factory that is yet dirty. Much that is a mess. But it is in these very ugly places that I find interesting details. I was a little slow to react when I came into this room. The dust was thick and the sunlight streaming through the windows lit up the dust like laser beams. By the time I realized I had an amazing image right in front of me, the sun had started to fad behind a cloud and the dust was settling out. The transitions in a factory do not wait for anyone!


New areas are constantly arriving. One day I might see a room like above. And when I go back a few days later, I find there are walls popping up, plumbing being installed, wiring connected...

Portrait Update

Thoughout the summer I had the chance to do a number of portrait sessions. One with a family, a few with friends and a few nude shoots too.

I learned an incredible amount with each shoot. Mosty, that I have so much more to learn. Sometimes it was the little things that complicated life, such as during one shoot on a beach...

... I hardly noticed all the flies (except they were biting us!) till I got home and realized I had a lot of photoshopping to do.

Other things, not so small, cannot be so easily fixed. Is her hair still neat and tidy? What's in the background? ...

... It was not till I got home that I noticed her hair. There is little that can be done about wind blown hair after the shoot. The background was less work, but still a nuisance that could have been easily avoided.

But sometimes, everything just works. Sometimes I got exactly what I was after. The lighting, just right...

Or the background and environment perfectly suited to the clothing and style of the model ...

Or the weather cooperating giving me exactly the atmosphere I was after...

All in all, it was a wonderful summer to do photoshoots. But I am keen to continue trying to hone this dimension of my art. I look forward to working with many of these people again and with new people too.

American Standard

Over the past year, or more, I have been actively photographing local history industrial spaces. Most recently I was invited to join a group of photographers to shoot the interior of the now defunct American Standard factory in Hespler, Ontario. This factory has been purchased by Shawky Fahel in the hopes of converting it to a condo development targeted at the needs of our senior population.

The factory has been cleared of all the heavy equipment that was used during its manufacturing era. But what remains is a wonderful look into its history. Graffiti by long gone workers. Random bits of furniture laying awkwardly in unlikely places. Dirty bits of broken equipment. Odd bits of the forgotten past. Sometimes it can be heart wrenching seeing a twisted, broken lunch box and wondering where the owner is now.

Our group had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours here. Each of us lost in our own little world trying to discover some bit of beauty in all this decay and ugliness. Many of us have had a chance to compare our images. It has been interesting to see how differently we all see the same space. How one of us might notice a chair sitting near a wall. But another will notice that they back of that same chair against that same wall makes for an interesting contrast in textures.

More images are available on my Flickr photostream.

More portraits

Pensive Jalyssa

 I had another photoshoot with Jalyssa recently. Portrait sessions with this woman are a dream. She has a very good sense of her body, how to move it, how to effect the right look. She is very creative too, coming up with many good ideas for poses, settings, etc. For me, it was wonderful to have a model offering these ideas and between the two of us coming up with some excellent images.

We spent about three or more hours in the nearby village of Elora at the ruins of an old, early 19C stone mill. Jay brought a number of interesting outfits she could use to create different moods. We had easy access to the river and although the water was quite cold yet, she was very excited to get into the water for a number of images. But just to her knees. It was much too cold to consider getting right into the water!

Neck & Earring

We also had a couple of lengths of loose fabric she was able to drape around herself to create images with an ethereal, floating feeling to them.

Portrait sessions like this are a lot of fun. But they are exhausting too. By the time we'd decided to wrap up, we were both pretty tired. But I think it's not the last time I'll work Jay and I am hoping I'll find other models to work with in similar settings.

100 Strangers, continuing

I've not been very active with this project, mostly because I feel so awkward approaching strangers to ask them for their picture.

Today, I was walking about the Distillery District in Toronto and fought my anxiety and asked these young women if they would be a part of my project. They were happy to oblige, after an initial bit of skepticism. I had fun taking a few images. You can find the others on my Flickr site. 

It looks like I did another 100 Strangers image a couple of months back but forgot to say anything about it. Not a problem. I should be more careful! :)

Factory Girl

I have had a passion for old factories for years. I love the textures and colours and shapes found on the facade and in the decaying carcass of an old derelict factory. And every time I have the chance to wander about a factory taking pictures I cannot help but picture working with a model, contrasting his or her look with that of the factory.

Goddess

Jalyssa has a passion for photography. Whenever we have met, we've talked and talked and talked about photography. She has done modelling in the past, casually. And she loves doing it. I had asked her to model for me in an old factory setting when I next found one. I felt an old, worn out, derelict factory setting would contrast perfectly with her youthful, delicate, feminine features.

When I found this factory not far from where I live, as I wandered about getting a feel for the space, I just knew I'd have to bring Jalyssa for a photo shoot.

I have put only a few of the many pictures from that shoot on my web site. It is hard to pick only a few that give a good overview of the range of her styles. I hope my choices are appropriate. I hope you like what you see.

There are many more images on my Flickr account. Please have a look, if you have time.

I think Jalyssa and I will make more images together again.

Twelve

I have another project on the go. Ya, I need another project! But I think this is a good challenge. I am hopeful some good thinking and awareness will come of it.

The project is called Twelve. The idea is a theme and a colour are picked each month by the woman running this project. During the month, one should endeavour to take a few (three-six) images that represent this theme.

I have created my own Flickr Set for this project and I will try to create a few images each month that represent this theme.

January's theme is Wish and this month's colours are Violet and White.