Time to get this blog off the ground. I've been busy in the studio shooting product for this years' Sears Wish Book, the 2" thick catalogue that Sears Canada puts out in October. When I'm not busy earning my bread & butter with close-cut, tabletop drop 'n' pop, I'm researching image-makers out in the real world. Lately it's been humanitarian photographers, like Steve McCurry, James Nachtwey, and some newer names like Karl Grobl and Heber Vega. I'm inspired by these photographers to go out and do more with my skills. Weddings are fun to shoot, and as I commented on Heber's website, I enjoy telling those stories, but they're not filling the God-shaped hole in my heart.
I'm not a religious person, but I have my own thoughts on our spirits. They're mine, and I'm no missionary, but when I speak of the "God-shaped hole in my heart", I refer to the feeling that exists in many people: the desire to make themselves whole by helping others without expecting anything in return. Making it big and being a success and having riches doesn't fill that hole. Actually, nothing does but the result of doing something selfless. Religions believe that only faith and God can fill it, hence the term "God-shaped", but that's where my personal beliefs differ. Doing things that are just and right to your fellow human being is in effect doing the things that whoever put us here intended us to do, and that makes us more spiritually whole.
So back to my photography. I've felt a pull to do something more than just take photos of blenders or weddings. I'll keep working on that stuff too, as it pays the bills and keeps my flock happy and healthy, but I have the desire, the need, to take what I know and extend it to people who need their stories told.
I'll start local and I'll start soon.
If you're interested to see the images that have helped push me in this direction, check out the following links. Some images are gut-wrenching, and will break your heart. Others will lift your spirits and give you hope. These are artists I aspire to be like.
