Old-school Photography

I don't really like photo-shop.I don't want a mountain lion 'shopped in after the fact.I want a real mountain lion.I have always enjoyed the magic of a beautifully produced shoot. I sometimes linger long after  I've got the shot...just to sip in the magic for awhile.

It was old-school that grabbed my heart many years ago...and still it moves me every time I pick up my gear.

Director: Gina-Rae Horvath / Sparks Productions/production stills

 

Enjoying the Fairy-Tale Series..

 Really enjoying shooting the Fairy-Tale series. I  am so grateful to have such wonderful models  to work with .

Fuck-you rich -white-guy-child-expert...

Okay.When you home-school your kid ,it's normal to read a bunch of books about how to do it right.There are about a billion theories .Just like there are about a billion theories on how to raise your kid without fucking them up.
So I have read at least a dozen books on both topics.Some of them were okay.Mostly they are boring.
For anyone who gives a shit the partial list includes : AS.Neill , Korczak, Harwood, Steiner, Freire ,Edward de Bono , Rousseau ,Neufeld ,Wise-Bauer ...and a bunch of alt-lifestyle type things.
Well..I don't fit into any particular camp.All these thinkers have some of it right.Just like all of us.We all have some of it right.So what I want to know is this : Why is it usually rich white guys that want to tell us how to raise our kids ?Black guys don't run around writing books about how woman should raise their kids..
Hell , most of these guys are doctors.That means that they were at work . A lot. Not home doing the gig they love to write about.
Anyhow..every generation has it's rich -white-guy-child-expert that mothers can't live without.I think Spock informed my mother's generation.And A.S. Neill informed and misguided my grandmother...
None of these guys raised kids 24/7.     If  they did ,they wouldn't have so much to say on the topic.

P.O.V.

I suppose  it doesn't matter if the work is commercial or artistic.We are who we are to a huge degree.
 I  find it interesting to see the threads of continuity that link my work...Or maybe I am just obsessed with the same  stuff after all these years.

American Express then..now I make Art

Gina-Rae Horvath /photography

Here are a couple of shots from the Amex campaign I did several years ago.What a lot of fun .We shot for three days straight to get everything we needed.Some of it was shot on location at a cafe I used to eat at regularly.Some of it was studio..and the rest was on the street.Great models, great team.This was when Sabu was still agreeing to be my first assistant for special jobs. He was the best ever.Now he's operating a multi-discipline photography/visual/creative studio in Toronto.

Life is like creativity , it's  all about change and growth.It's so much fun to be sifting through my commercial work .After five years of slugging it out building a house , we are finally unpacking some of my studio stuff.

It is interesting to me how much my commercial work informs my personal work.I never would have admitted that at one time.It used to be uncool to admit that one's commercial work had an impact on your art.

 It's  impossible to "un-do" what commercial photography does to a person. But that's okay. It trains the eye. It makes you get up in the morning. It forces you to work hard. It makes you take pictures of concepts that are not all about you.You have to get technically good.

Ego is not something that survives very well in a commercial environment .Everyone has talent.Not just you.

When a job happens ,it happens with at least half a dozen talented people working hard .These people are valuable team members.There is no such thing as a commercial shooter who works alone.We learn that we are not fucking special .

This is interesting to me as I work away on my personal project here on Hornby Island.I am blessed with co-operative models,beautiful locations and amazing light.It's a lot quieter here than my studio ever was.(smile)

I enjoy what I am doing now .Being an artist is great fun.Uncovering these images though has given me a new appreciation for the methodical process that I apply to all my work.

Thank-you Toronto for the training.It was a hoot.

Now I make art. (more smiles )

Ottilie Mason..Multi-Talented

Wow am I fortunate. I get to   work with so many interesting and talented people.This is probably one of my earliest "Fairy-Tale " style images. Ottilie Mason is both  the model , and  costume designer.We both  had studios  in the same building for several years  in Toronto.We got to enjoy  Carlaw Avenue before it became gentrified .Her studio was a  combination of sophisticated Bohemian chic ,Indian textures ,with modern art everywhere.And beautiful food was always being prepared.At that time she was operating a very hot catering company ,servicing the film and photography industries mostly.The kitchen was a massive but earthy set-up.All the spices were in big clear  jars on huge open shelves.The cooking utensils were crafted beauties from little India, just  up the road.I had never seen such unusual long handled wooden utensils  .The colors and smells were intoxicating.I loved that place.

Ottilie always shared the left-over food with her artist community.We ate very well for starving artists.

Her style , her food, and Art  were ahead of their time. .Check out www.Ottilie.ca

 She is still at the forefront.

Who's Educating Who ?

Tried to shoot some images today.Nothing looked particularly good..Lack of  focus today.

Somehow I am not expertly blending homeschooling and my own work .Early September struggles.

The Girl woke up at 6:00 am and did math .She has mind focus. After three cups of coffee I attempted to work...meh..Stayed grouchy too.That happens when our work stinks.

Tomorrow is another day.

And who's educating who here ?

Learning Rapunzel was an Idiot and Commerce too..

Homeschooling begins again .Another year of learning , creativity and observation .
When our girl quit school, at 8, we were concerned about our ability to deliver a quality education .
Now that we are a few years into it , that concern has lifted. In retrospect , I was concerned about her education  when she was inside the school system...
Anyhow ,we are happier than I imagined we would be.I thought the process would be a bit of a logistical nightmare..fitting it all in.Learning what needed to be learned.Finding that precious balance where life and learning merge.Where art and creativity co-exist.Math and science are not ignored...not pretending walks on the beach  count as science class.That sort of thing.It is a challenge to educate your own child.
There is a temptation to grab onto the curriculum and not let go.Except that the existing curriculum is just not that interesting.Part of what I do is read the ministries " learning outcomes " , then boil it down to the main and hopefully interesting points.From there, we flesh it out in a way that suits our girl , and our family.Whew.
After some experimentation , we have discovered that to cover the three R's properly , we need to sit down at the table and hit the books old school.
The "un-schooly" approach does not work for us at all...For the uninitiated "un-schooling" is a dearly loved philosophy among many home-schoolers.We just don't get it over here.Looks too much like slacking to us I guess.
We are not too hard-core though.If you read "The Well Trained Mind " by Susan Wise Bauer , it would seem apparent that we are as slack-ass as a family could be.Hell , our kid is not even studying Latin yet.And she's already ten.
Somehow we want to deliver something of quality and beauty.Poetry and music figure into this picture somehow.Yet it is necessary to understand math , commerce ,and that Rapunzel was an idiot.
We are doing our best.So far she is happy , and so are we.
Wish us luck as we begin another school year.

Burning heaps of Negs and files makes way for Art

It's pouring rain at last ,so today is a good day to be editing .When it's wet out, it feels cozy to rummage through boxes and negatives.Have had a few good bonfires this year to cleanse the studio of negs and files. Six foot high bonfires.It's amazing how much fits into a bank of filing cabinets.Looks so much bigger when it's  piled into a heap in the front yard .Only holding onto a few commercial bits and pieces.And of course I am keeping my personal work.It's nice to hold onto some commercial stuff .I feel proud of a lot of it ,but it seems crazy to hold onto all of it .

This is not a "duty" cleanse..it is a "yay" cleanse.I will have lots of space for a new work table , and lots of clarity too.

The studio will be an Art studio from now on.

I shot this black & white image at  my  Carlaw Studio in Toronto.I won't burn it.

Herbes de Provence

Found this little clay tub in my kitchen recently.Once upon a time  ..I actually paid money for this herb mix. If I had known how simple it was to make ....It's just equal amounts of dried and crushed stuff from the pantry or garden.

Rosemary ,bay, lavender, thyme,savory, and a touch of clove.

I always add chive and tarragon to mine as well.Yummy and cheap.I think the clay pot has got to be part of the cost.

In a perfect world  you would grow and dry your own herbs.You would harvest them into a handwoven wicker basket.They would be dried upside down in fetching little bundles in your olde-style kitchen.( I am guilty of this sentimental behavior) If that's not possible just buy them.  Also, much has been said about fresh vs dried .I prefer fresh rosemary for poultry and  I love the intensity of dried oregano for omelettes.Use them any old way you see fit.The important thing is to cook , and enjoy it. A  glass of red helps on those days it feels more like a chore and less like a creative process. Happy cooking.

Photography ..play not work

I still love black and white.I have been doing so much colour work these days..it feels good to step away from it for a moment.Have been looking at old Andre Kertesz  country landscapes.Just beautiful stuff.I am happy to strip away the colour and just see the essential form and structure of a thing.And ya..I have always been a sucker for those grainy films..agfa , recording film, Tri-X pushed all to hell .That sort of thing.

Doing the look on the 'puter is okay.Feels a bit less magical...I wonder if I am alone on that one.I  embraced the technology long ago, as only part of me is a hopeless romantic.The other part is lazy and enjoys the  ease of digital. It's also way  cheaper .

The underlying requirement for effective photography is the desire to tell a story..To deliver the story well requires authenticity .Some of the best images I have seen of late are by amature photographers. Somehow their authenticity is on display (An eye takes years to train,and not everyone has the ability to see light.)

After years of honing my skills as a commercial photographer in Toronto ,I became able to shoot what I needed to shoot.I really enjoyed giving a thing a "look". Loved it .Every shoot was a challenge .

Art , authenticity, voice...These were a bit distant some of the time , drowned out  by the daily demands of my commercial work.I think this is why I love the work of amatures...and I am not speaking of aspiring photogs here..I mean real non-pros.Like my mother for instance.She has no clue about photography..and that is precisely why I love her work.It captures stuff in a great  way.Enviable really.

The greats are great...and the beginners are also great.

Anyhow ,once we have spent 20 odd years working professionally ,we can't undo it.We can only play.And this play is where the magic lies.

I am really enjoying my 'play" these days.I should stop calling it work.

Evil Stepmother shoot

Messing around shooting more Fairy -tale images on the property.I needed a woman of a "certain age" to be the evil  stepmother..seems everyone I know is either young and beautiful , or too busy to model for me .What ? You can't just drop everything and rush right over to look menacing on cue ? Hmmm. anyhow.I usually hate to be in role.I think I managed to look quite evil here though.Sometimes we do what we need to do to get the thing done.
Yes the apple is from our tree .

Slow-Life Summer coming to a close...

We had a beautiful dinner on the beach last night with friends.. Angel-Blue swam for an hour.I think she is part mermaid .The sky is getting moodier ,the clouds are rolling in .Part of me is sad to see the long hot days give way to fall.It seems there is never enough time in a summer to do all the  things we want to do .It would be nice to have at least another month to slowly enjoy the season.We have done a lot of fun stuff..but unless we want to live like the "Toronto-busy-people " we once were...it would be impossible to do everything.Our new life is not about cramming stuff in.Sometimes I feel like a hippy when  I see the tourists efficiently going about their summer business. Probably they have a list of" Hornby-activities" that all get completed in two weeks flat. It's hard to explain,but part of the joy of living here is the pace.It is the fact that we don't hurry much.Except to catch the ferry.So we only kayaked a bit this summer instead of athletically a lot.We only hiked up one mountain .We camped , slept under the stars ,rode our bikes here and there.We cooked on a beach fire almost daily..till the fire ban took effect. We participated in a few community events. This summer has  felt like the leisurely summers of old.It's why we moved here.We are really enjoying the slow-life.

Garden Chaos is my Dream.

I like my garden to be right on the edge of horticultural-chaos.Big ,billowy and a bit over -the-top.That final vision will take a few more years.I started with gravel on conglomerate (crappy soil ) I plant lots of stuff that is hard to kill.And lots of freebie stuff too...roadsidia.That way if anything struggles where I plunk it..I can pull it out without tears.I sort of abide by the  every-plant -for -itself philosophy.No hot-house babies  here.Lots of better gardeners than me live on Hornby Island.They nurture the soil, they haul manure and sea-weed.They pull weeds..I can  respect their  earnest approach...they know a lot of stuff about plants.Well..I am happy to drink a glass of chilled white in the midst of whatever grows easily.Cheers.

So visual poems will have to do..

Cara chasing paper dreams.Photo # 3 in a big series.

Not born a poet.

 Photography...because I am not a poet.

Martial arts at my house looks like.... this.

 So, this is what martial arts training has amounted to around here.Kicking the hell out of hanging balloons.

Rustic Fairy-Tale stuff

I have always loved this rough driftwood furniture.It's rustic,beautiful and fairy-tale all at the same time.The sundial taught me to tell time when I was a kid.This exact one..it was accurate within 10 minutes...then somebody went and changed the number placement.Now I have no idea what time it is if I am not wearing my watch.Luckily I am not in a hurry much these days.

Eco-Fashion Show Fun

  Recently we had an Eco-Fashion show here on Hornby Island.It was so much fun to see the local women become models.Organic farmers and herbalists, cooks, mid-wives, musicians.These women from all sorts of interesting backgrounds all agreed to come out that evening to model my clothes.And wow were they good.I can honestly say that I was impressed with their ability to shed the gum-boots and walk the runway.For most of them it was a first.

For me it certainly was.I was never a fashion designer...not really.I learned some fashion design stuff at the tail end of my Toronto life.Purely on a whim ..just to add to the bag of tricks really.And to have some fun.

For me Toronto was all about being a commercial photographer.So I have a ton of experience directing models..lighting, etc.etc.. (working with  Canada's best fashion stylists  doesn't hurt  either I guess) So anyhow ,I had a great time and was humbled by the purity and expressiveness of these women. I would never  dismiss the amazing models I  worked  with in Toronto .They were great..truly great., but somehow these small island girls with rough hands and interesting lives carry clothes differently.And it is a difference that at this stage in my life I can really appreciate.