Charles T. Low Photography

Soon after my previous blog, I participated in "haul-out", getting the boats out of the water in anticipation of winter.

I say anticipated, but I gotta' tell ya, I see a lot of sad faces every year, but ... this is our rhythm here, folks, and winter has so much to offer. For those who feel grumpier, I simply cannot join you. (Also, for the first time in a very long time, I no longer own a boat myself.)

A few infirmities had pounced upon me, now essentially resolved, but rather than do any actual work (and hurt myself further), I took it upon myself to photograph the event. A couple of things about that:

1. I had a wonderful time, and
2. I snuck in some impromptu portraiture, which I can't show here (privacy), but everyone said:
   • Ew, don't take my picture, I look awful, but ...
   • ...oh, that's pretty good!

So, that could be you. More on portraiture below.

There has been less hauling my weary corpus out of bed in the wee hours. That may return. I hope it does. Still:

Then, we had an eight-year-old with us from overseas, so we had to show them the sights. I have been to Alight at Night at Upper Canada Village before and want to go again. Seeing this in snow is on my bucket-list, but I don't have that much influence, apparently, and it was not to be. (Hint: have a hot chocolate.)

Now, let me ask you this: do you like it? (You always know that I like it, or wouldn't show it.) Let's say yes, you do; the next question is why? Do you think that the little tail of lights in the lower right matters, in terms of making a pleasing composition?

(Do you think that I noticed that at the time, or only later when selecting which images to prepare?)

That by the way, was hand-held, in near blackness. It certainly helped that it wasn't my first day on the job. (ISO 4000, f2.8, 1/60 at an EV of minus 2, 38 mm equiv., for you fellow geek-nerds. [Hi!])

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Now, I must say, while not wishing to politicize the issue, that we all must simply face the horrific blight on our history to which this mural alludes. I know that I lead the privileged life which I do because of things like this. To those of you who claim that you didn't do anything wrong and that you worked hard for everything you have, then good for you for working hard, but we were born into privilege, and for those who weren't, life turned — and turns — out very differently.

Canada is still, as far as I can see, not responding to this with anything near the vigour which it deserves. (And yes, I know it's complicated.)

But my path to photographing this piece of art goes something like this:

• The Brockville art supply store, Medium Effort, started a paper newsletter, early in 2023, The Fishwrapper, on the local arts scene, covering roughly Cornwall to Gananoque, and parts north. It's a fabulous publication, free, available at many relevant locations (including the store), full of fascinating information, lists of events, and good dollop of humour, just to my taste (so be warned).
• The AOG Gallery, a private art collection near Frankville, decided to sponsor a monthly column, in The Fishwrapper, on outdoor art, called It's Out There.
• The AOG's owner and curator, a man I now consider a friend, asked me if I would do the photography for it. I foolishly said yes (very glad that I did), and most months, my photograph graces the pages of the newsletter.

I spent several hours in Cornwall, taking invaluable advice from the tourism office (thank you Amy) and from Cline House Gallery & Studio, photographing around, but all agreed that this was the seminal work, which I dare not miss.

The artists are Victoria Ransom and Bruce Boots, from Akwesasne. The mural is on the east side of the Cornwall Fire Service Administration building (10 Fourth St. W.). More information at Indian Time.

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Now, a wonderful thing has happened in my photography: I met dancers.

This, by the way, depended upon me being out there, in the world, meeting people, making photographs. I know a very impressive guy who invited me to participate last spring (showcased in a recent blog.

That has led to one more performance, and two private portraiture sessions, with more of both on the way. (Come to the next show on Sat. Feb. 10, organized by Aaliyah Dance.)

The variety of styles of dance, and the skill and joy (and sorrow) which the artists, all simply wonderful people, bring to it, is amazing. I feel truly humbled that I can be a part of that.

(Positions for additional photographers and videographers are open. If interested, ask me. You may even sometimes get paid, sometimes not, but that's not the point of this.)

Eleeza and I worked for three fabulous hours, with several costume changes, various accessories, and of course many poses. She danced, to music, beautiful, difficult for the poor photographer, but when I could catch the moment: magic.

Now, Na'ema is herself the driving force behind Aaliyah, and the first to add that she does this with a lot of support. We had a long session too, just fabulously creative.

I hadn't thought about it that I chose similar poses for each of them, to post here.

The dance work, as I said, falls into two categories: performance and studio. The former is hard ... less control of the setting, very dynamic, the primary focus being where it should be (on the dance), not on the photography. The studio, isolating the subject against a non-competitive backdrop, brings the specific challenge of nothing to buttress the subject: it's only the model and me; we have to make it work. And we have all loved doing that.

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More conventional portraiture is more the norm. This woman had a very pragmatic reason for wanting standard portraits, and while there, I snuck in a few (with her permission) which I considered more arty.

It's what I do.

Thanks so much to the model for consenting to have her portrait shown here.

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Open to Possibilities

I think and rather hope that my photography will continue to go in multiple directions.

But I couldn't ask for more. I have loved doing all of the work shown above, plan to do more similar, and if I remain open to possibilities, then who knows what's next? Stay tuned.

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I would love it if you were to subscribe to this blog, and to refer friends; art collectors may find this interesting.

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.

Check out my current Portraiture project. My next model is you (yes I mean you).

Charles T. Low
Photographer
Blog #96
2024-01-16

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