Browsing “Photography”

Oh bliss. It’s that week in February where everything seems to happen. It’s Valentine’s Day, there’s teacher’s convention and it’s the first true long weekend of the year. There’s so much going on, I just had to include an extra day. Here’s your Calgary Arts Round Up, Family Day style.

FAMILY DAY FUN: Looking for something to do with the kids this Family Day? Well, Calgary Reads has the event for you. They’re presenting the Academy Award winning short film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore Holiday Monday at the Globe Cinema.
Image courtesy of Calgary Reads

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Spring is coming. I can feel it. Okay, maybe it’s just the hopeful gardener in me but I could swear that winter is about to end with all the awesome happening in the arts community. There’s giant snakes abound, mentorships to apply for, new art shows to check out and so much more. And don’t forget it’s the last week to get your pics, suggestions and the like in for our upcoming story on outdoor community art. Here’s your Arts Round Up this week Calgary.

FAMILY LITERACY DAY: Guest reader and local author Dave Whamond enthralls Maple Ridge School students during a Calgary Reads Together Event, on Tuesday, January 23. The event, sponsored by Chevron Canada, celebrated Family Literacy Day and promoted the excitement of reading. Over 70 volunteers took time out of their workday to read aloud to the Grade 2 students.
Photos by Amy Jo Espetveidt, Quadrophonic Image

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The feeling that I’ve been there before sweeps over me as I walk through the exhibit, taking in the beautiful images. One photo reminds me of my grandparent’s house, another of a town that I swear I had been through before.

So many are flash backs to a time not so long ago. I feel nostalgic. I feel at home.

A FEELING OF HOME: Orest Semchishen’s Fabyon, Alberta (1978, silver print photograph) from the collection of Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre.
Photo courtesy of Esker Foundation

Welcome to Splendid Isolation, the newest exhibit to be featured in the Esker Foundation’s gallery, showcasing works by Alberta-based photographers George Webber, Olga Chagaoutdinova, Orest Semchishen and Miruna Dragan.

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Cancer is an ugly word. Almost everyone has been affected by it in some way. But even with such a sickly disease there are ways to shine a positive light on it. That’s what Brendan Klem wants to do by putting family first. He is offering photography sessions to families affected by cancer and helping to preserve their memories with their loved one. The sessions are done at no cost and the black-and-white images are given to the family to keep. “I want to show their love for one another despite the hard times that they are going through,” Brendan explains.

Brendan is no stranger to hard times having seen firsthand how cancer can affect family. His own father was diagnosed with acute leukemia back in 2007. What was initially a grim prognosis turned into a five-year ordeal that was a draining process for his family. “I don’t really remember much of the recent past where [my dad] was not sick, let alone frail. It wasn’t until the last two years that I came to see it all: so many hours spent in the car, planning days when we could go to the hospital or figuring out dinners to bring with us. I honestly don’t know how my mom did it day in, day out for years.”

By trade, Brendan is a photographer, but he quickly found that photography became a low priority when dealing with a sick parent. During his dad’s illness, he was able to capture some of his father’s final moments like in the image below. This is one of the last photos Brendan took of his dad; here his father is battling the effects of chemo by trying to stay warm with blankets over a heating vent. “The picture that I have of my father is one that I am thankful of taking. There are others that are amazing even though the times might not have been so good,” Brendan says.

After his father passed away in 2011, Brendan began searching for a way to give back to other families that are affected by cancer. Thus, the “family first” photos idea was born, especially as he realized the photos that he didn’t take with his own dad. “I feel I took the right amount of photos of [my father]. I just wish there were ones of the whole family together during this time too,” Brendan says. While the topic of cancer can be depressing, this project is ultimately about family and the love within. “I really have no idea how people will react to the photographs. My intention is in no way to reflect death. There is so much life and love that shine through; it washes away that view anyway. That light and love is what I try to capture, and I have been so thankful to see so much of it already with the families I have photographed.”

If you know a family battling cancer that could benefit from Brendan’s awesome work, check out his blog for more info or send him an email at hello@klemandco.com.

This is not a store. They don’t sell anything here.

Think of it instead as a playground for photographers. You can bundle them up, take them down to Eighth Avenue Place, drop them off and let them have at her. It’s the photog equivalent to Stir Crazy.

A WHOLE NEW CONCEPT: Canon Image Square opened its doors this week in downtown Calgary. The centre is the first of its kind in the world and is a photographer’s dream.
Photos by Amy Jo Espetveidt, Quadrophonic Image

Canon Image Square officially opened its doors this week, launching not only a first of its kind for Calgary, but the world. It’s pretty cool that we get the first, but until you have actually swung by, there’s no way to understand the sheer amount of awesome is contained in this 6,600 square foot centre.

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20 photographs of the historic King Edward School, the venue of an interactive 3-day Doors Open event this weekend (photo courtesy of King Edward Arts Hub & Incubator Photo Competition – which is on this weekend)

You know it’s going to be awesome when we can’t. stop. blogging. about it.

This weekend is Alberta Culture Days, and municipalities across the province are all doing something different. (Check out this crazy map for a bird’s eye view of Alberta cultural action.)

My fellow bloggers have featured a number of Cuture Days events for Calgary, including a free Alberta Culture Tailgate Party and We Should Know Each Other (WSKEO).

My pick for the weekend?  Easily Pechakucha Night Calgary (PKN), which is on TONIGHT.  It’s part of a flurry of creative activity planned for an interactive 3-day event at the King Edward School, which will also include WSKEO and the King Edward Arts Hub and Incubator Photo Competition.

Pechakucha Night has done for PowerPoint presentations what inflatable dinghies have done for the Elbow River.  For those of you unfamiliar with PKN, Read more

Canada’s Really Big. No wait. That’s an understatement. Canada’s freaking HUGE. It really is.

When we set out on our epic journey to photograph the little things that make Canada beautiful, I knew it was big (hey, I’d done the trip twice before via road and maybe half a dozen in a plane). But did I really think about how big? No.

ACROSS CANADA: Here’s a sample of some of the sights from each province we traveled to including the Alberta Badlands (top), a Saskatchewan farm (middle top right), a dirt Manitoba road (middle top left), a lake in northern Ontario (middle bottom right), fallen maple leaves in Quebec (middle bottom middle), the outgoing tide in New Brunswick (middle bottom left), a Nova Scotia sunset in the Cape Breton highlands (bottom left) and the most northern most tip of Newfoundland (bottom right). Many awesome little things were found along the way.
Photos by Amy Jo Espetveidt, Quadrophonic Image

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As July turns into August, a lot of Calgary’s art happenings are moving outside. This past week there’s been car shows and festivals, next week has bike-in animation, a Hot Date for writers in Kensington and an art walk on Stephen Ave to help break the cycle of poverty. Even the TELUS Spark is looking for artists to create a massive piece of public art in a nearby parkland area. Here’s your Arts Round Up for this week.

THE ART OF CAR CULTURE: The beauty of automotive art was on show this past weekend at the 11th Annual Chestermere Lake Show N’ Shine. Despite a quick and furious thunderstorm, the day was filled with stunning cars (over 400) that traveled from all over Alberta. With all the pin striping, details and quirks, they really are pieces of art on wheels.
Photos by Amy Jo Espetveidt, Quadrophonic Image

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You may not know who i.m. ruzz is, but you probably have seen his amazing photos on his blog, The Living Breathing Street. His photos depict all walks of life in Calgary and shows our city in many different lights. We chat with ruzz to find out more about the man behind the photos.

Q: Tell us about yourself and where your story begins.

A: I was born and raised in Calgary and have lived here all my life. I’ve been doing freelance development for over a decade and before that I was doing tech support in the oil & gas industry. It’s been a slow progression from the high pay and stability of that world to being able to work on my own terms on projects I care about.

Q: i.m. ruzz is a moniker you have used for a long time. Where did it come from?

The name “ruzz” started back in the late ‘90s when I was looking for a nickname for online work. It started out as “ruzzman”, and then evolved to “i.m. ruzz” because a website registration wouldn’t let me use nicknames. My online presence since has been as ruzz.  Most people in my life call me ruzz to the point when someone says my real name I have to think about it before I respond.

Q: How long have you been taking photos?

I never had much interest in photography until the late ‘90s. I was running a billiards magazine and borrowed a film SLR from a friend to take a few pictures. It got me hooked. I tried weddings, event photography and most everything in between before arriving at street as the main focus. The first couple of times out were harrowing and very uncomfortable, but despite that, something clicked for me. It felt alive and engaged.  It really called on all my skills at once to make a good picture. Street photography seems to bring all the parts of photography I love together in one place.

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“I wanted to be the first one to do a proper shoot on the bridge, so I went out right away on opening weekend. The red paint on the outer structure is brilliantly bright at night and the lighting fixtures make for great accents. The lines are beautiful. The shape and the colour are beautiful. The bridge will be a popular destination for wedding parties and photographers all summer.

Calgary finally has a piece of real artful infrastructure that is available to the public. In short, I love our new bridge.”

Tim Nguyen, Photographer

© 2012 Citrus Photography