Earlier this semester I attended a photography workshop at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. They gave us some basic photography tips, show us examples of their work and let us "backstage" to look at their studio where they do artifact photography. Afterwards they let us loose on the museum to take what photographs we could. I made friends with a retired engineer named Rick who has made photography his hobby. He's part of the Ottawa Camera Club, an organization that has been in existence for over 100 years. Being very much a beginner, he took it upon himself to teach me a thing or two about taking pictures.
It fascinated me what he chose to observe and what he chose to photograph. We walked through Canada Hall, my new friend took the trouble to let me know that he doesn't take snapshots, he makes art. He took pictures of a trellis of roses in Upper Canada, an anachronistic metal box in New France and some paint cans in British Columbia. By the time we reached the recreated Ukrainian church he began to engage with the exhibits as something other than a photographic subject. He was struck by the beauty of the church. "I'm not going to photograph this, I'm just going to put it in my memories." He closed his eyes and took a moment. The camera to him was not a tool to record reality but one of the imagination. No box was going to store his memories for him.
Throughout the afternoon. The language he used was right out of Sontag. "It time to pull out the guns," he said, when we started off to take pictures for ourselves. At a map of fur trade routes he pointed out places where he used to hunt and later on detailed a photographic safari he planned to take in the next year or so. A hunter turned photographer... now where have I heard that before? While I might not have taken the best shots that day myself, I was able to witness photography in action and another perspective on why its done.
These shots were taken imitating Rick... unfortunately I don't have his stunning images to show you.
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