Charles T. Low Photography

I believe it true that most of us won't ever see such wilderness. This means, in my case, northern Manitoba, and faithful readers will recognize the subject material. The family love which draws me there is not our current topic, but that's the reason, and the boreal experience is simply a happy by-product of those human relationships.

I have however also noticed how many people have breezed through such places at various times, but it seems to me that it remains true that most of us won't ever get to experience such a region.

I call it near-wilderness because you will notice in some of these images such modern conveniences as roads. True, most of them are dirt roads, or gravel. The final drive into the nearby settlement (intentionally not identified) occurs on 300 km of 90 km/h gravel road. Most of us will never know the joy(!) or the intensity of such a thing, and some of us wouldn't like it if we did.

For true wildnerness, check into the work of people like Adam Shoalts or Paul Nicklen (both Canadians), among many others. I would like to be more like them (and I'm very glad that I'm not like them).

---

Be there! A recurring admonition to photographers, not my invention, is that you can't make art unless you set aside times and places to make art. A writer has to write. A sculptor has to sculpt. A photographer must release the shutter.

It will not always be clear at the outset what will emerge, and with photographic art, specifically, we often impose upon ourselves the somewhat artificial constraint of using what's there (I know that I do), whereas some photographers go to great lengths to create scenes in which the use of the camera is almost incidental, but ...

... regardless, the image above only occurred because I bestirred myself, left the house, and took my gear into the wilderness.

I don't know what that plant is. I do know that the leaves (petals?) are white; that is not snow or frost. I would like to know what it is (anyone?) — some photographers insist on learning all about one's subject-material — but from a purely abstract point of view, I felt quite delighted to have chanced across that scene — and recognized it as (to me) visually intriguing, which led to that composition.

And I have never seen anything like it closer to home.

The dogs were very puzzled that I wasn't always walking. They each gave me one bark, each time I stopped, clearly reminding me that it was big wilderness, and we had more exploring to do.

---

Those who have been taking notes might remember this little island, below. It's a scene to which I return, for the transcendently profound artistic rationale that it's a great place to walk dogs off-leash. (Work with what you've got doesn't only refer to photography equipment!)

That scene could not be from my home photography grounds of Eastern Ontario. This is Canadian Shield territory (unlike southern Manitoba, if any part of Manitoba could even be thought of as southern), with a bit of a different character than the Muskoka, Haliburton and Kawartha regions (or, of course, how could I forget the Thousand Islands, on my doorstep?) with which I am more familiar, partly I imagine for reasons geologic, but also because the winters are much colder, and that affects the vegetation.

And then the blizzard hit.

Hey! It's northern Manitoba in October! What were you expecting?

We didn't have to travel far, and had an appropriate vehicle (and were careful), and it was never very cold, so it was fine. The dogs still needed their walks. A few days later, much of it had melted, but it is only going to get colder, and more snow will come.

The bright side is: the camera loves it.

Blizzards come and go, but the snow may linger. The image above shows an almost fairy-land scene, and I lined it up and let 'er rip.

The one below, however, may be my favourite of the lot, and it feels less formulaic, certainly less typical of my usual work.

I like doing less typical work from time to time. The scene as presented to my eyes had an almost abstract quality about it, and I have attempted to maintain that in rendering it as a photograph. The strong verticals are offset by irregular, wavy horizontal lines, separating several distinct layers of trees. The snow in the lower half almost seems to be trying to crowd out the vegetation, and provides strong contrast.

---

Wilderness Enough

I'll leave the full wilderness to other photographers

I think you can tell how much I loved being there. I loved spending time with family (and the dogs). The visual extravaganza was simply a bonus, and I availed myself of it (to the extent permitted by the dogs!).

I can't show all of my work in these blogs, so feel free to follow me on various social media. I keep the list here.

Thank you all so much for reading! Kindly comment.

Subscribe

I would love it if you were to subscribe to this blog, and to refer friends.

You may wish to look through my larger portfolio. Almost everything is for sale. I favour large wall art, and also deal in books and other small items: prints, notecards, and postcards.

Charles T. Low
Photographer
Blog #86
2022-11-04

Top