Above, as a new routine started off last year, are photographs that I thought about putting in my top ten but for whatever reason decided against. I work endlessly all year long with photography. Whether it is my personal, conceptual, music, or commercial work, I am always working and always extraordinarily busy. There’s a lot of work I am really proud of this year so as to be expected, there’s a ton above in mini-form (unless you are looking at this on your phone. Then I am sorry).
This year I had the craziest jump start. I couldn’t even believe it. The first day of the year I was offered a tour and from there I was continuously given opportunities while also creating my own body of conceptual work. It’s strange, because back in 2010 I was just getting started with my work on a professional level. I was about to embark on Art School to justify my career as an “artist” and was making so many changes in my life, getting rid of the most toxic of people and moving on. Now, ten years later, I finally feel myself being able to work with clients who actually value me for what I have to offer and recognize my work as my own. It’s not to say that I haven’t felt that for the last few years but I do think it’s become more evident now more than ever. Clients will tell me how I was the one that they wanted to work with for whichever X reason and I think that as a photographer or any sort of artist, that’s exactly what you strive for. I am proud of the fact that I push myself and work as hard as I do, that I feel like I genuinely have earned what I have. It took me a long time to allow myself to not feel guilty for that and I am glad that now, heading into 2020, I can finally say that out loud … Or via a few string of words.
10. Calpurnia , Calgary AB
There’s a part of me that’s uncertain if this image made it because it very quickly became my most liked photograph of the year (nearly 1000 likes on Instagram) due to the subject matter … Or if it’s because I am still a sucker for my ring in isolation. I guess I need at least one image like this per year with last year being Youth Fountain. There is no doubt that I was stoked to have taken this image, or even having the opportunity to shoot this band in such a grand venue. They were so much fun to photograph and see how the crowd interacted with them. I was in complete awe the entire time.
09. Ghost , CALGARY AB
I’ve been waiting to shoot Ghost for such a long time. Literally every time they have come to Calgary I didn’t find out until the night before or the day of and I would get so angry with myself for not being able to do something about it quicker. I was denied by Live Nation for this show (what a surprise, lol) and then quickly emailed their PR and asked if I could cover it. They were so kind and fast … I was so thankful. Ghost isn’t just a band they are full theatrical performance and I had such an amazing time just taking everything in and enjoying all of the different changes in the design of the set and all of the different atmospheres that would go along with this theatre performance. I was so entranced the entire time that I didn’t even realize that it had been time for me to leave at some point. Such an interesting artist to see. I hope that this isn’t the last time that I have the chance.
08. UTAH
As you most likely know if you follow me to any capacity, my partner and I do a lot of ground traveling. We drive around to different places to document small towns, do some landscape photography, and to see some shows we often don’t get up in Canada. This year, we had travelled to California and Utah to see two different shows, and then did a small weekend warrior run through Western Canada before doing another Western Canadian full tour. While in Utah, we decided that we would take some extra time to go to the Arches National Park. For some crazy reason we decided it was worth the 8 hour detour to go see some really cool looking rocks (yes, it was completely worth it). On the drive back to Salt Lake City, we stopped through this really interesting small town. It was one we had seen on the way through the west and figured that there would be some interesting photo spots. We crawled across this one and I was so thrilled with the white-on-white and how huge the clouds were with it to boot. I quickly set up, took this photo, and then the owner of the house came running out with their dog, clearly upset that we were paying attention to their house. They didn’t say anything to us but we got the message loud and clear that we didn’t belong there and quietly left. This was my second time in Utah and I had to say it’s still one of my favorite States, especially with such diverse and interesting landscapes. I’m really excited to be able to check out the southern part of it more in the future.
07. Seaway , Vancouver BC
There were two days of tour that I photographed Seaway for MRG Concerts. I had seen them numerous times but was super stoked to of had the ability to see then for six nights in a row on this small run. They’ve always been a lot of fun to watch, and that’s what I would tell anyone who asked me about them … It didn’t matter if their music isn’t completely your thing they are just fun and good at what they do. So in Vancouver I definitely got a little more personal with them in my images, coming in nice and close to Ken on drums as well as Andrew and Ryan with my huge lens to get these distorted wide-angle shots. I remember how much I had to lean in between the monitors to get this image and was so stoked with how it came out. Sometimes those extra tall staged venues create far more interesting shots. I forget that too often.
06. T-PAIN , Calgary AB
Knowing that T-Pain was going to be playing Stampede my first thought was, “This is going to be sound board for sure … If we are even allowed to shoot at all.” My next thought when we were told it was the basic 3 song rule was, “Okay, now I am just waiting for that contract that tells me I can’t even look at my own images after I am done editing them.” (Queue awkward laughter) Only none of that happened. Instead, there was a crowded photo pit of 19 people crawling on top of each other to get photos of T-Pain. While there were moments I was like, “Yeah, hopefully that’s something that makes the bottom line,” I didn’t anticipate actually falling in love with these two images. The top image was one of the first times I used my brand new lens that I had been saving up for 2 years. The image is just so grand and wide, and was the very first photo I had taken of his set. To me, it felt perfect in how isolated he looked especially with how interesting his clothing is. It’s uncomfortable the fact that he’s so isolated like this. I just love that. I had to rebuild a bit of the bottom of the frame to make it look exactly how I wanted to and it’s just so nice when things in photoshop work out perfectly. As for the bottom image, the colours and the mood of the lighting was everything that T-Pain was live. He’s quirky, fun, and has small bursts of crazy energy. I was so stoked to see I got a moment of his dancing like this and with such interesting lighting to pair with it! It was exactly the sort of lighting and image you want to walk away with after seeing someone as iconic as T-Pain.
05. NECKING , CALGARY AB
Going into Sled Island, I knew that Necking was a band I was going to catch immediately. I worked my schedule around them and even left work early for this show, just to ensure that I would see their full set. Afterwards, I even set up a time to take their portrait. I was just so entranced by their performance. Somehow I had even convinced Aron to come out and hang with me during their performance. They are just so lively and interesting, I was taking photos every second. I remember the moment I caught this series of images, and how I knew I would animate them later as well. When thinking about this time of year, i remember how scattered my mind was and how much I was totally disconnected from the world and horrified of everything and everyone and how much I just wanted to push past that. This set definitely inspired me to do that and to just enjoy the things I do. I deleted everything off of Instagram and then posted these photos and was just happy to only post the images I was proud of and not because it felt like an obligation.
04. HAIR BY ZUNNY , CALGARY AB
When Zunny approached me for photographing three of her clients rainbow hair I was ecstatic. It’s not often I get to do work that’s more along the “Product” Photography side of things and there’s a part of me that misses it from being in Photo School so long ago. The set up was simple, and very DIY, just like I have grown comfortable in using. We had two models one day and a singular model about a week later. With Brook it was all easy because she has this perfect swoop in her hair. We would time it all out with a “One, two, swoosh,” and she’d swing her hair back and forth. This was one of the first photos we took of those “swoosh” moments. I excitedly showed her and when Zunny came back from a quick coffee run I had to show her too. The way the make-up had been done, how the layers of rainbow was so prominent, I was just so excited to get this personality out of the hair. I even asked Brooklyn if we could do it again under this luminescent bridge that Calgary has to offer. We did, and the photos definitely had her hair glowing but this is still the image I come back to and get so excited about seeing every time. It made me miss fashion and beauty photography to a painful extent. Ever since then it’s something I had started chasing again.
03. LOONY , CALGARY AB
It was a pleasant surprise for me to get the email that LOONY was coming into town. I was instantly entranced by her music and the visuals that she chose to put along-side it. I had to photograph her. Luckily, I was able to set up some time with her to have a conversation for my magazine and also set aside a few minutes to take some photographs. She warned me that she is really particular with her images, something I can definitely understand. So we did a few and I went through and showed her each image as they came through. The editing process is really where the image came out, though. I found myself getting into this intense Renaissance pallet and texture. It’s something that I have been striving for in my portraits for a long time. I couldn’t be happier with how this image came out. I think it’s perfectly suiting to her music as well and over all just makes sense. If you ever get the chance, please check out LOONY. Her music is so honest and soulful, it both makes me want to sway and dance as well as breaks my heart.
02. Youth Fountain , EDMONTON AB
I’ve said it before, but I truly mean it when I say that Youth Fountain are my favourite group to work with. This run, though short, I was happy to embark on a “full” journey from Winnipeg to Vancouver. I had so much appreciation for it though, especially when there were venues such as this one, the Starlite, and I was able to sit on the drum riser with Bran and get nice and close for some shots. Honestly, some of my favourite drum shots are from this show as well. It was really difficult to bring it down to which images. All I knew was the photos of Youth Fountain from this show specifically would make it into my final group of images. I have one of Tyler and the crowd as well as one of Cody. I really love the one of Tyler because it was probably my first time being in an extraordinarily active crowd and working that I wasn’t completely scared of what would happen but rather stoked on the images. The crowds was so intense and brilliant, and the energy Tyler was giving off fed into it further. I remember being so stoked on the images before I even got them to my computer. As for the photo with Cody, I tend to approach these guys’ sets with half at front and half in the back (depending on the length of time I get to spend with them as well as the venue). I’ve always enjoyed the little moments where Cody comes back around and interacts with Bran before going off and doing whatever action he ends up doing in his live performance, whether it’s spinning the mic, jumps, or in this case, a good ol’ punch to the air. The lighting was so perfect in both accounts and really allowed me to get that haze I love to expand in images. I actually got exactly what I like to see out of my own work.
01. The Floorboards Are Breathing
Probably for the first time ever, my #1 Photo was really easy to pick. I didn’t even have to think about it … At all. When We Are Alive Beyond Repair came out I was instantly enamoured by the record, and Gatherers. Heck. I have plans to get their logo of the two fawns tattoo’d to me in the coming months. I knew I wanted to create this image based off of their song, “The Floorboards Are Breathing.” It was one thing to just do a photograph based on the song, so I started building concepts that would revolve around the full record. I am about half way done these super minimal portraits that are meant to represent the different narratives on the record now. It’s definitely been a little over a year in the making but I am so happy with the amount of thoughtful research I have put into the songs as well as the thought process I have had to come up with ideas. Some were definitely more easy to come up with than others. This was the first image I took of the series and definitely the easiest to come up with. I was so happy that Gabby agreed to it. She hadn’t been in front of the camera this way a lot, especially at that time and she was so easy to direct and get exactly what I was looking for out of the images. I’m just so thrilled that it turned out this way: Exactly how I had imagined it. So thank you, Gabby, for being such an integral part of my vision.
I would also like to take the time to thank a few people for making this year as crazy, unexpected, and possibly one of the best that I have experienced thus far. Without a doubt, there’s a small group of people that have truly enabled me to get where I am and have made me feel confident as I continue to move forward in my life. Normally I go off on this huge list of people but I think this year I will keep it shorter.
Firstly, I would like to thank my loving partner, Dorian. For years our friendship was quieter until we finally accepted that we would never be out of one another’s lives. Thank you for every conversation in the early morning, in poor traffic, in moments my OCD makes me harsh and/or overly critical. I always look forward to every adventure that we take on and shall in the future, from local night-photography drives, to days worth of driving and exploration. I would also like to thank my Muther for being so flexible with my awful, awful schedule, and for understanding and listening when I am unsure of myself.
Another thanks to Timer of MRG for introducing me to a bunch of lovely people, for always being honest and transparent as well as for inviting me to all of the different shows I never anticipated photographing. This thanks should also extend to all the other great people of MRG, Blue, Bishop, Matt, and Justin.
To Said the Whale for being my first tour of the year, and being over all lovely people in the few days that we had together. Even in the most stressful of times you guys were so patient and considerate towards one another, and I have so much respect for all of you as people as well as musicians. To Widmore for taking me across Western Canada again and pushing me back into video.
A special thank you to Youth Fountain for being genuine friends of mine, for embracing my creativity to full capacity, for being my own personal Gatorade sponsorship, and not kicking me out of the van for still dabbing in 2019. To Bran for being a long time friend, for your patience in every situation and your over all pleasant demeanour. To Vinny, for extending consistent kindness to me even when it was inconvenient as well as being the person to calm me from all my anxiety attacks with your sense of humour. To Tyler for always hyping me up and clearly believing in my vision, for enabling me, and being honest with your feelings. To Cody, for your straight forwardness, your van “entertainment” system, and for inspiring me with your independent nature.
And a final thank you to Kelly and Kaylee for being my grounds to the world. Without our puzzle club meetings I know I would drown in my work and forget what it’s like to actually enjoy life and people. I am so thankful for all of our times spent together.
