Studies in Motion

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If you’ve done any reading on the early history of photography then Eadweard Muybridge is a name that you’ll surely recognize. He began his career as a landscape photographer in the mid 1800s, gaining recognition for his photographs of the American West between 1868 and 1873. The work Muybridge is most well known for are his studies in human and animal locomotion, that dramatically changed long standing perceptions of motion of that time period, and led to the development of the cinema.

I was reminded of Muybridge because “Studies in Motion: The Hauntings of Eadweard Muybridge” is opening this week at the Push International Performing Arts Festival here in Vancouver. The play explores the darker aspects of Muybridge’s character, and the lesser known event of the murder of his wife’s lover, for which he was acquited. The play runs from January 17th to 29th at Frederic Wood Theatre UBC. Tickets are $18 regular, $10 student, or $12 seniors and can be order by phone at 604.822.2678. I’m planning on checking it out because I’m intrigued by the idea of a play about photography.

Oops Magazine Artist Feature

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Oops Magazine is a local bi-weekly Japanese language paper about life in Vancouver. My friend Noriko Miyamura is a writer for the magazine, and I was recently interviewed by her for an article about my work that’s in the current addition. Some of my photographs have been included, as well as a picture of me taken by Joanna Garfinkel. Please do take a look at their website.

Noriko has very kindly translated her article to English, and I’ve included it here:

Rachael’s photos are mysterious, and each one seems to have its own hidden message. People who become subjects of her portraits find them fascinating because it reveals their true feelings or subtle sexuality. Her subjects are mostly ordinary people, not professional models. They look natural in the photos and there is a feeling about them that each person is willing to open up their heart to her.

Rachael was born in Toronto, Ontario. Her interest in photography first developed when she was in high school. As an artist, she always feels the need to create something every day. Over the last few years she has focused on creating digital art, “I love to play with imagery (in Adobe Photoshop) and have fun with the original photographs. By doing so the photographs are telling their own story.” Rachael moved from Toronto to Vancouver in 2004, and is now working towards establishing herself as a freelance photographer. She is an avid blogger with various photo-related blogs. She enjoys interacting with other artists and shares her ideas, thoughts, and inspirations on her blogs. “To maintain an artistic practise, I feel that you have to do something creative every day. It takes dedication and determination to persue your dream, but it’s important to just do what you want to do and have fun with it!”

She often can be found walking around the city with her camera, trying to capture “the moment” of everyday life. Today, maybe you will bump into Rachael as she takes her photos with passionate eyes.

Toy cameras

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I’m a fairly recent inductee into the world of the of the toy camera enthusiast (also called trash or crap cams). It’s a very unexclusive group of those who enjoy the challenge of taking photographs with cheap plastic cameras with questionable exposure control and wonky image quality. Here’s an excerpt from the toy camera website on what it’s all about:

Who are toy camera photographers?
The toy camera photographer eschews the modern developments of camera technology, the reliance on computerised exposure systems, motorised film transport, PPI, TTL, CCD, DOF, the drive for higher and higher resolution, for gizmos, gadgets and carbon fibre tripods.
They believe focus is an over-rated commodity in most photographs and a focusing ring to be a needless gimmick on your average camera.
They may however enjoy painting their Holga a pretty color.
Toy camera photographers are rebels who want to prove that you can make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
Toy cameras are for the artist within. It’s all about the photograph, and not about the price of your gear.
They may even make their camera themselves out of an oatmeal box.
They agree that depth of feeling is more important than depth of field. Toy camera photographers probably would probably get kicked out of the f64 club.
Toy camera photographers would probably call themselves Neo Photo-Secessionists who believe in the intrinsic revelatory power of the snapshot, if they knew or cared what that means anyway.
They are also sick and tired of getting stiffed by ridiculous ‘collector’ prices for old Diana’s on e-bay.
Toy camera photographers believe:
“If it’s plastic, it’s fantastic”.
“I can never be bothered with dials and things anyway”.
“My camera is not a status symbol of my upwardly mobile social standing”.
“You may or may not use the viewfinder- it’s up to you”
“It’s all just a bit of fun”.
-Don Brice

My first introduction to toy camera photography came in 2005 when I began shooting with a low quality medium format camera called a holga. I found this camera fascinating and challenging because of it’s limitations, and was determined to figure it out and make it work for me. A full set of these shots can he found here on flickr, and more of my thoughts on the holga can be found in it’s own section of my portolio.

My success with the Holga, in combination with the influence of my friend Christopher Evans, has led to further acquisitions of trash cams. The two shots below were taken with a Time Magazine camera that I bought for five dollars at a camera show last fall. At the same event I picked up a Konica Super Wide disposable self-portrait camera, and I absolutely love it for the weird distortion of perspective the lens creates.

A one-sided conversation

I’ve found that part of the fun of toy cameras is trying to find interesting ones at places like camera shows, flea markets and second-hand stores. Yesterday I went on a hunt for something new, and hit the jackpot at Value Village of all places. I am now the proud owner of an Akira focus free, a Kellogg’s Snap Crackle & Pop, and a no-name yellow camera once intended as a starter model for kids. I can’t wait to get out and start shooting with these once the weather improves, and see the weird and wonderful things these cameras can do.

2005 pictoral review…

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In honour of New Years day, I’m presenting some of the photographic “Year 2005 in Review” slide shows for your viewing pleasure.

Reuters – 2005 Pictures of the Year.

MSNBC – Editors and Readers Choice.

CBC – Faces of 2005.

CBC – Canada The Year in Photos.

Looking back through my own photos from the past year, I realize it’s difficult to choose just a few that I feel are the “best of” or that sum up the year for me. It’s been a very productive and inspired year artistically, thanks to the photo community at Flickr and to my local group of Flickr friends in Vandigicam. I’ve decided to select some of my favorite photos from a few of the series I worked on this past year:

In 2005 I was inspired to explore self portraiture in a way I never have before, and in the process I think I learned a lot more about photographing other people.

Veiled Listening to her heart Yuuki's perch

I took an endless amount of portraits of the people around me,

Zoe Celia Kate

and generally photographed the heck out of the year….

Let the sun shine Tiny boats

Expired film

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I really enjoy meeting other photographers because of the unexpected influences their style and techniques can bring to my own photography. Take for example the work of my friend Joanna and her use of cross processed expired slide film, which she mostly shoots with for the sake of its lower price and tendancy towards weird colouration. It was not something I would have thought to try without her influence.

This shot of mine was taken with expired Seattlechrome slide film. I’m not sure of the age of the roll but I can tell the film wasn’t stored properly at a stable temperature because of the “fogging” through the highlight areas. The colour shift is very interesting and brings a certain nostalgia to the shot that reminds me of family photographs from the seventies.


Part of the challenge of shooting with this kind of film is the unpredictablity of the results. It all depends on how the film was stored, its age, accuracy of exposure, and the reaction of the film when cross processed.

These three portraits were taken with a roll of Fujichrome 100 ISO that expired in 1993 that I picked up at a camera show. The most interesting colour shift was in the shot on the left because the subject was actually wearing a brown shirt and vest, not blue. Really old expired film can be tricky to find, but I would recommend camera shows and ebay as places to start, and most local photo supply stores tend to have a few rolls they’d be happy to get off their hands for a cheaper price. A good way to “age” newly expired film is through dramatic temperature change, say by experimenting with leaving it on the heater. I’d suggest doing this under controlled conditions, and not just leaving it there indefinately. Let me know if it works!