Holga
Like an old friend, photography has always been part of my life. These images are part of a collection of photographs taken in New York, Vancouver and more recently Seattle since 2006. The images were produced using several 'Holgas' - idiosyncratic cameras known for their distinctive 'flaws': light leaks, vignetting, lens distortion and chromatic aberrations. The simplicity of the low-tech Holga allows me to photograph spontaneously, without hesitation, without inhibition.
I use Holgas the way I use journals recording what I see at any moment in time. The Manhattan Bridge and Battery Park City photographs were taken one overcast day in New York in May, on the bicycle paths along the Hudson and East Rivers. The bike paths were relatively quiet and peaceful, but I could still hear the distant roar of the city in the background. It was cold and off-season when I photographed Coney Island. The place was deserted, amenities along the boardwalk closed. But it's old-time carnival atmosphere, so familiar in movies and photographs, was no less tangible, as I imagined it filled with people.
Most of the photographs of Vancouver were taken in Strathcona, just outside of Chinatown. In the spring the long narrow path along Gore St. is lined with cherry blossoms in bloom. In the summer, the McLean Park fountains are lively and become backlit by the sun at the end of the day. I photographed the towering sunflowers among the dense growth in Strathcona Community Garden, using a red filter to darken the sky and emphasize the flowers. The Ngai Lum Musical Society building in Chinatown is a curious historical site.
The photographs of the I-5 South and various sites in Seattle were taken while on road trips usually at the end of summer.
A selected group of these Holga images were exhibited at the Royal Bank of Canada (on 4th Ave in Kitsilano) in 2007
