I’m always on the lookout for quirky, whimsical scenes. Photographer Elliott Erwitt, who passed away last year at age 95, was a master of capturing ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings. He’s certainly been an influence on my photography.
Here are some recent oddities that appeared in my viewfinder. In the words of American clergyman Douglas Horton, “Smile, it’s free therapy.”
Every year ViewPoint Gallery welcomes new exhibiting members with a “NewPoints” exhibition that showcases their work. I am pleased to be part of this exhibition along with Craig Benjamin and Heather Rose. It runs from January 4th – 28th with an artist talk on January 14th. The gallery is located at 1475 Bedford Highway, Unit 109, Bedford, Nova Scotia.
My portion of the show, titled Found Fields, features ten photos from my recently released photo book, available at Blurb Books. Below are the exhibit photos with their captions.
In November 2023, I traveled to Toronto for the opening of “Hickox, Pahwa, Woolaver – Scenes from Toronto,” an exhibit at the City of Toronto Archives. The showfeatures photos from the 1980s to the late 2000s, and explores how contemporary artists capture the ever-changing city. The reception was well attended and I had a chance to meet some interesting people, including Patrick Cummins–a former City of Toronto archivist.
My portion of the exhibit is a digital slide show with 250 images on 90 slides. The slides are shown at 7 second intervals. They are drawn from my collection of 700 digital images contained in the archives–primarily street photographs taken in the 1980s. There are also two vinyl enlargements of a street scene, and a phone booth on the wall beside the monitor. The curator of the exhibit, Naoise Dunne, did a wonderful job sequencing the images and identifying themes in my work. It an honour to have my photos in the City of Toronto Archives and I’ll mark this as a highlight in my photographic journey.
April Hickox’s photography documents the unique landscape of Toronto Island and seasonal changes.Vik Pahwa captures the city’s built environment, focusing on forms and shapes, creating abstract images. The three digital slide shows encourage viewers to explore the city through the photographers’ perspective and picture-making methods.
A second exhibit, “If These Walls Could Talk – Researching the history of where you live,” focuses on the unique stories of 11 homes. The exhibit opened on October 19, 2023 and runs until August 2024.
Monday to Friday, 9 a.m – 4 p.m. Free entry
City of Toronto Archives
255 Spadina Rd.
Toronto, ON M5R 2V3
A lot of my photographic approach boils down to noticing details. (And having a receptive mind, and a camera in hand.) Pretty much everything in the world can be explained by science and mathematics, but when it comes to art, all bets are off. There is a sense of mystery in the world that the artistic side of our minds seek to expose and illuminate.
The Brian Eno song “Sky Saw” offers an insight on this topic:
All the clouds turn to words All the words float in sequence No one knows what they mean Everyone just ignores them
Photos taken recently rambling around Hants County, Nova Scotia, with my camera. I’m usually on my way to somewhere and stop to take a few photos. It works better when I’m alone, as I get complaints from family members.”You’ve taken this photo a hundred a hundred times. Let’s get going!” (Perhaps they’re right.)
According to Wikipedia, the name Hants is an old abbreviation for the English county of Hampshire, from the Old English name Hantescire. It’s beautiful here, especially in autumn.