Author: Don Denton

Man and Macaw

From an interview with a local guy who goes everywhere with his pet macaw including bike rides. The bird shows affection by gently biting the owner on the ears and nose. Funniest part of the interview was the fact the bird took a dislike to the reporter and chased her around the room biting her, not so gently.

Andy Clark in the Langara Journalism review

The Langara Journalism Review has an excellent interview with Vancouver-based Reuter photographer Andy Clark. I can’t find an online version so you’ll have to search out a hard copy on your own. Interview was done by writer Leasa Hachey and photographers Jorge Posada and Lina Zarate. I think Hachey does a nice job of capturing the essence of Andy although I’m not sure how he …

Philip Blenkinsop, Norman Mauskopf, Light Hunting and other inspirations

Micah Escamilla had her Facebook status yesterday as Light Hunting which I thought was probably a perfect permanent status for any photographer. I have this poster for a workshop with Philip Blenkinsop on my bulletin board, not because I’m going but because I wish I was. The image alone will have to serve as inspiration. If you’ve got a documentary bent and want some more …

Saturday Night – Chinatown

Downtown at dusk hoping for the late evening sunlight slanting through but clouds drifting in ended that. Settled for the bright colours of the umbrellas and the neon signs coming on in Victoria’s Chinatown district.

Caterpillars

There’s something about caterpillars that creeps me out. I felt like I had the creatures crawling all over me for about an hour after I took this image. A big hatch this year too so the little buggers are everywhere.

Micah Escamilla, interviewed by Jeff Bartlett

Former student Jeff Bartlett has posted an interview with his fellow former Western Academy of Photography classmate Micah Escamilla. Jeff is in Argentina and Micah is in California. You can read the interview here. Micah mentions former instructor, and now Luz Gallery maestro, Quinton Gordon as an influence for the classes he taught, she mentions me for inspiring her to set up drink nights for …

Shaun Best R.I.P.

Sad news this morning that Montreal based Reuter photographer is dead at 43 of a heart attack. Short story here and here. Too soon, too young.

Vancouver Island Ships

A lighthouse, small naval ship and a fully loaded container carrying freighter heading towards the open Pacific Ocean. Just another Vancouver Island seascape.

Photographer Wilf Schmidt Loses Battle With Cancer

One of the more popular posts I’d done was about retired Kamloops photo teacher and photographer Wilf Schmidt who was operating a tiny photography gallery in the Interior city. I hadn’t been through Kamloops since last summer and that time was a quick stop so didn’t get to drop by the gallery. We were finally heading up that way again this past weekend and on …

Punk Rock Rising Vancouver 77/78 Show Opening

Had the opening for my show of images of Vancouver punk rockers at Talk I Cheap Gallery in Victoria last night. A good turnout including the members of the Dishrags which was excellent. Hanging the show Jason Flower and Tiemen Kuipers sort through Vancouver punk singles. The Dishrags, Scout, Jade and Dale,  with a photo of their younger selves Friends chat during the opening

The Ramones and The Avengers in Vancouver

I have a new show of my early Vancouver punk photos opening at the Talk Is Cheap Gallery on Pandora Street in Victoria this coming Saturday. I’ve been sorting through my negs yet again and had a couple news ones scanned. It’s interesting what I keep finding. I came across this group shot of the Ramones posing for me before their gig at the Commodore. …

Creating Culture

The other day I was thinking about how culture is created. A big picture topic for sure but I was thinking more about little movements, little movements that have big consequences. The Beat movement for instance, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and crew. A fairly small group overall but the even now when almost all the originals are dead the work they created is still read …

West Coast Winter

So here’s photographic proof we do get winter out here open the western edge of the world. Sure, it did only last three days but it was a hard three days.

Interview – T. Reilly Hodgson

There’s an element of documentary in a large amount of my work but there’s a lot more to it than that for me. I do want to make pictures that are artful, that’s for sure, but I’m also interested in the way that memory works. I use photos to express something in the same way I might use a drawing or painting to express something

Lauren Henkin – Interview

Usually, with images hung on a wall, people move to look at images that interest them, they can skip images, or move out of the order the artist intends. With a book, beyond just controlling that viewing experience, you can go beyond just the sense of sight and incorporate touch, sound, text, and other means of telling your story more carefully as well.

Daniel Milnor – Smogranch

I haven’t been posting a great deal here. That said I have been checking out a few other blogs. One that I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the past week is Daniel Milnor’s Smogranch. I’d never run across Milnor until a week ago so it’s all a pleasant surprise. I enjoy Milnor’s writing and his images are amazing. It’s oddly nice to see …

Claire Martin – Interview

I love to tell stories the way I see them as oppose to translating another person’s vision, which is what
you often have to do when on assignment. I have my own unique way of seeing a situation / the world and to me it really is story telling and
I’m the author.

Claire Martin and IndieGoGo – funding her Haitian Life project

About a  month ago I wrote about crowd sourcing to fund photo projects and Victoria photographer Mike Andrew McLean and his use of Kickstarter to fund his project The Range. Since then I’ve come across another good example,  Australian photographer, and Oculi member, Claire Martin is currently photographing in Haiti and she’s using IndieGoGo to create a funding program for that work. You can follow …

Donald Weber’s INTERROGATIONS

Documentary photographer, and rising art star (check out the 12 page spread in the Fall 2010 edition of Canadian Art magazine) Donald Weber has a new book INTERROGATIONS coming out in the fall of 2011. Published by Schilt Publishing, features more of Weber’s images from Eastern Europe. The following, from the release for the book, explains Weber’s work: ‘Interrogations is the result of his personal …

Losing Kodachrome and Letraset

The various stories this past week about the end of Kodachrome reminded me of a couple of articles I came across on Derek Beaulieu’s blog. Beaulieu is a Calgary based artist, a bit of a Renaissance man, a poet and artist, arts organizer etc,. Derek had been using Letraset to create text based works of art but has run into the problem of finding Letraset …

Mike Andrew McLean – Range: Mountain Park Photographs & Kickstarter

I’ve heard of photographers using crowd sourcing as a source of funding but only third hand. Yesterday I received this email from photographer Mike Andrew McLean and thought I’d pass it along. It’s an interesting concept, using Kickstarter,  for an interesting project and with even just a $10 donation you get a print: I am pleased to announce that Range, the photo project I’ve been …

Colin Corneau – Interview

I do like the idea of preserving a community and a time. It seems a lot of photography is, at one level or another, about fighting back against the relentless tide of time erasing everything.