SubscribeWhy would anyone in their right mind choose a picture of tobogganing for the cover of a speech about economic recovery? By choosing a photograph of a sport where people willingly throw themselves down a hill athigh-speed, sometimes with bumps along the way, the designers of this cover inextricably linked the report with the idea of decline.
There is a frenetic, agitated, almost crazed energy just below the surface of Bieke Depoorter’s photographs. I see faces light up when they see our photos. Jackson’s shots help people to get an understanding that as Aboriginal people, we don’t fit into the stereotypes that so many hold about us. Not all of us are brown or red, and some of us even have blonde hair and blue eyes. His images help everyone (including me!) to question our ideas about what we think about Aboriginal people. The Willard mental health institution has an important place in the history of forced treatment for mental health issues. This exhibition does a very good job at illuminating that history and humanizing its characters. It is a rare and beautiful example of history that is worthy of being called art. I’m always trying to understand what my photos mean, beyond the mere conceit of the image. Looking back over the thousands and thousands of photos I’ve shot over the last eight yeasrs, I’m starting to see some trends. Most of the time, my photos are about boundaries. I’ve always loved riding the metro. The train is a great place to sit and to think. Of all of the great moments of clarity in my life, three have been on the subway. In 2005, on my way to Coney Island in the late afternoon, I watched a butch latina and her femme girlfriend talk and smile. The intoxicating pace of the crazy big city started to sink in, and I knew I was hooked on cities. As a photographer, I feel sometimes that I’m experiencing the world from behind a filter. I wonder if looking at the world through a keyhole is limiting. But then, thinking back through photo-school, to my days at the night lab, I remember the wonderful feeling of discovering photography. It was more like discovering how to see critically. It was a heady time, those months that I spent shuttling back and forth to the Big Smoke. I was there three times in six weeks. Each visit brought me a little closer to the possiblity of making something of photography. Every time I went things seemed a little more real. I gained a lot of confidence. Going to Toronto started a series of investments that have allowed me to do some interesting, exciting, and rewarding work over the past few months. a lost white diaper sits on the pavement outside the First Baptist Church, corner of Elgin and Laurier, Ottawa In just under two weeks, I’ll be participating in a fundraiser for Médecins Sans Frontières involving many of Ottawa’s best photographers. Held at Ottawa’s most pleasure oriented gallery come party spot, it’s shaping up to be a […] | Being There by Jackson Couse is very happy to reccommend hosting by Fused Network.  |
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