Older entries:
Pictou Lobster Carnival Collage
I was approached to design a collage for the Pictou Lobster Carnival's 75th year anniversary. Workin...
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susanmceachern.ca
I recently had the pleasure of designing a new website for Canadian artist Susan McEachern.
<...
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UPDATE 2009-08-26
Two new photos have been added to the By Moonlight section.
The original Stroma piece...
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UPDATE 2009-04-14
Section updates: photos and design
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Stroma
Stroma cells are found in the connective tissue of organs. In the iris of our eye the stromal cells ...
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Bedrock and Snow
Bedrock and Snow started before I ever held a camera. My family would drive HWY 101 from Halifax to ...
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By Moonlight
The "By Moonlight" exhibit at the Anna Leonowens gallery in Halifax finished last night. Good turn o...
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Selfies
The portrait has come a long way. Starting from the hands of scientists and painters, photography ha...
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Jump
A studio lighting exercise that lead into an entire series of friends. Nothing serious, no concepts ...
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Adobenostalgia.com
In the spring of 2007, when Adobe was announcing and revealing new CS3 products I created www.adoben...
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Anachronisms (prochronism)
This group of images is based around the idea of photographic truth in today's world. These images j...
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Farmers' Markets
The farmers' market project was my first step into the documentary aspect of photography. Photograph...
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St. Valentine's Day Massacre
On February 14, 2007 the Make-A-Wish foundation set up shop in the Halifax Shopping Centre to await ...
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Nature, Landscapes and Aesthetic Photography
Although easily dismissed as calendar art, the landscape photograph is in itself an incredible work ...
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2010-02-08 pictouunited.com
I was approached by Pictou United Church to redesign their website to a more modern interactive model. The request was to create a site that allowed all members of all committees of the church access to updates and changes. To create that type of engine from scratch would be costly, and churches aren't necessarily rolling in the dough these days.
So the idea was to install a wordpress locally and design a theme. All of the necessities of a simple website could be fulfilled and would allow a simple user interface for member of almost any computer background.
The design idea pitched was around the "OPEN DOORS, OPENING HEARTS, OPENING MINDS" slogan. Using a door-opening pamphlet as a starting point the design easily came into fruition.
Visit Pictou United Church's new interactive website!
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2010-02-05 Gustoph Christoph Artwork
I had the pleasure of being asked to create the artwork for Eastern seaboard songwriter Chris Morris (Gustoph Christoph). Originally from Massachusetts, Chris now resides in Nova Scotia while studying History at Acadia University. We became great friends, living together one year and occasionally playing music together. Chris was interested in my night photography and, being a great conversationalist, I asked him to come along for one. We took a picture overlooking the Annapolis Valley, a place we knew was a temporary home for us, but one we'd never forget. The forty-minute exposure captures the lights of the town, the movement of the stars, the conversation and the cold. Chris' music also captures more than meets the eye. His stories are rich with events and histories both personal and broad. His folk roots style merges with his interest in modern independent bands and holds a perfect balance between upbeat and down. The Swimming Sailor is a great listen, well worth getting your hands on.
Gustoph Christoph myspace
Debut review
ReverbNation
2010-01-05 12 Days of Copenhagen
During the short time that I lived in Newfoundland I had a lot of great opportunities to work on some environmental projects. The movement is young there, with recycling programs still in the works and progressive groups eagerly rushing to the cause. During my three month stay I tried to be as involved as I could. I joined "Project Green", which was primarily concerned with the passing Copenhagen conference and activism in accurately promoting its message and importance. One project idea had been to have a Santa Harper Clause to take pictures with students as they ask for what they would like this Copenhagen season. Along with photos, a jumbo card with the "12 Days of Copenhagen" parody jingle would be sent along with signatures of the student body. I volunteered to design the cover.
On researching the issue I came across an abundance of ignorance surrounding the point of the conference. The majority comes from the growing concern of world domination by an Orwellian one-world shadow government; an anti-mainstream idea that the open-source information pool of the internet has been able to mass-broadcast. Much of the information is derived from social, economic and political news. Although boldly differentiating themselves from mainstream media, they do play the same heightened dramatization card. For example, radio host "Alex Jones" (who's voice could convince you that Santa Claus was real again) presented the topic of toxins in water not as an issue of pollution or overmedication, but a strategic contamination in pursuit of world domination.
It's easy to fall under the spell of Jones and similar sources. Much of their information is on relevant topics like the bail-outs, corporate dominance, growing fascism, destruction of democracy, challenges to liberty, the food system, mass media and are all important and in need of public attention. The issue however, is their approach to the other controlling force of our time--our planets changing environment. Any information regarding changing climate, warming temperatures or glacial melt is credited to the global dominance agenda. The general belief is that a carbon-tax will be used as a slush fund for this new world order. There are certainly flaws with carbon tax (I prefer James Hansen's version) and I think we all agree that there are forces greater than government that dictate the way of the world, but what's above even the most powerful social, economic or political entity is the environment. What I'm beginning to see is an immediate conclusion that any climate or environmental science is brainwashing, with the most notorious debates are over temperature change and CO2 activity.
The earth, whether by human behavior or not, is (and has been) warming--slowly enough that saying "it was colder this winter than last" is not proof of false science. We're still exiting the last ice age, and whether or not carbon emissions are accelerating this warmth can't seem to be agreed on by both sides. However, glacial melt is obvious (from the lack of glacial ice by visual observation) and therefore our oceans are changing (in many ways). Furthermore, we know deforestation is an unfortunate truth. Trees contribute to the natural flow of carbon-oxygen conversion--a beautiful system that allows us to live in our environment. Massive deforestation by machines that produce poisonous gases (to oxygen breathing organisms that are usually absorbed and converted by said trees) for the production of more poisonous gases cannot be said to have no effect. As we watch forests become flood plains, and ecosystems converted to monocrops. The re-planting of forests--by those responsible--is not helping. Trees are placed in uniform grids, grow together and deny natural forest layers; the ecosystems that exist in a natural forest are prohibited by the systematically grown-to-harvest tree lot. Selective logging is proactive and sustainable, clear-cutting is not. There's more to climate change than temperature increase and tax hikes, much more.
The examples should continue, but I only hope to make a point. To deny that industrialized societies' greed and "above all else" point-of-view hasn't impacted the globe is ignorant. To deny the possibility of government corruption and compromise would be overly optimistic. To create conclusions (on either side) from undetermined information would be irresponsible. To do nothing and allow business-as-usual by the most powerful forces the world has ever known without realizing the potential and responsibility of the individual would be disastrous. So what is important, as organisms trapped in this changing petrie-dish planet, is to not forget our role in government, but to exercise the democracy that we have to sway them. There are more of us than them, and although they control the resources, we control the consumption. It is fortunate enough that most of the contributing nations to the impacts on the planet are ones in which each citizen is allowed a voice and a vote. So we should use it.
Sources and further reading:
DemocracyNow! on COP15 - a great independent alt news source
Decline in belief of global warming
Arguing against mainstream denial
Comparison argument chart
Alex Jones on climate fraud
How climate science works
The world without us
2009-12-09 RBC NSCAD Emerging Artists Project
from source
For the past three years, NSCAD students have been successfully bridging the gap between the academic and the entrepreneurial world of the arts, thanks to an innovative partnership with the RBC Foundation.
The RBC NSCAD Emerging Artists Project supports three distinct and high-profile elements: Art Exchange, an off-campus gallery in the nearby RBC Dominion Securities office, the Graduation Catalogue and the Graduation Exhibition.
"This was my first real sale," says photographer Ryan Buckley, BFA '08, whose work, Stroma, was purchased through the gallery. "It's nice to have this on your CV so soon after graduating."
"An opportunity like Art Exchange nudges you into the art world and helps establish you as a credible artist," he adds.
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Read the rest at NSCAD University's 2009 President's Report.
2009-11-04 From Away: Migrant Farmers in NS
This summer a celebration of migrant farmers who visit the region each year to work was held at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts. The Annapolis Valley is home to much farmland, which requires many hands to seed, protect, maintain and harvest. People from around the world come from away and call this place home for the summer months, before returning home with the earnings that support their families.
However, while they are here they do more than just occupy our landscapes; they become a part of our culture. We visited these friendly and hard-working people in their fields, at their leisure, and during their prayer.
At the end of the season, a symposium was held at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts. All those from away were invited to join in and view the photographs, tell their stories, and share with others foods from the season.
For more information on the symposium, see the following links:
Halifax Media Co-op website
Nova News introduces Coastlands journal
Atlantic Farm Focus article
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