SPECIAL EDITION
WINTER 2022/2023
BOTANICALS CURATED BY PEPPA MARTIN
$7.95
JULYA HAJNOCZKY at the last judgement we will all be trees BDes, 2013, Photography, Alberta University of the Arts
“My work is a critical examination of our relationship with the natural world. Using a high-resolution scanner as my camera, I compose intimate portraits of ecosystems, fragmented, speculative near-future landscapes. The images are elegiac, dark, mourning; showing us not the rich world we live in, but the world we are about to lose.”
obscura-lucida.com
A diverse community of critical thinkers driven by curiosity and inspired by imagination AUArts.ca @AlbertaUArts
RACHEL NIXON Vancouver, BC
THE GARDEN OF MAGGIE VICTORIA
“ My ongoing project honours my great-grandmother, who was mostly forgotten after dying at an early age in 1943. The series combines family archives with my own contemporary images to recognize her talent as a gardener. I aim to restore the story of a woman to whom I owe my existence.” rachelnixon.com
IN THIS ISSUE 8 RESOURCES WE LOVE By Alan Bulley
+ FEATURING:
10 PLANTS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: CONVERGING PASSIONS By Ali Penko
CAROLYN CHENG
ASHLEY SENJA
DANNY CUSTODIO
JULYA HAJNOCZKY
13 THE BIPOC PHOTO MENTORSHIP PROGRAM By Heather Morton
ERIN MCGEAN
SALLY AYRE
JENNIFER LONG
ANNA CHURCH
29 COLLECTING DUST RYAN VAN DER HOUT A conversation between Kerry Manders + brandy ryan
JOE ATIKIAN
CHERRY ARCHER
T.M. GLASS
AKEMI MATSUBUCHI
48 SOLAR-POWERED: PHYLLIS SCHWARTZ’S LUMEN PRINTS By Peppa Martin
WALTER RAEMISCH
DEEDEE MORRIS
JEROME CLARK
ALEX NEUMANN
55 THE GALLERY: Submissions by our readers
ORYSA STEIN
C A P T U R E W I N T E R
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CURATOR’S NOTE
ON BOTANICALS FROM THE INVENTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY
“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart and head.” — Henri Cartier-Bresson
to today, botanicals have appeared throughout the timeline of the medium. From the early cyanotypes of English botanist Anna Atkins, to the sensuous blooms in dye transfer prints by Robert Mapplethorpe, the long history of art records our fascination with botanicals of all kinds. It has been exciting and rewarding to review the diverse images submitted for this edition and to see the compelling ways photographers explore the natural world. Many found new voices or sought comfort during the pandemic, such as Jennifer Long and Ryan Van Der Hout. For others, such as artists Danny Custodio, Phyllis Schwartz, and T.M. Glass, botanicals are consistent elements in their lives and work. Botanicals are an enduring unifier; their beauty entrances all but the incurable.
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The contemporary artists selected to appear in this issue have presented unique perspectives and mastery of this evolving medium. My vision for this special edition was to showcase the selected works as we might experience them in an art gallery. Slowly, with contemplation, and with room to breathe. I hope you enjoy the outstanding work featured in this latest issue in the same way you might savour viewing an exhibition or photobook. With the onset of winter, may this issue bring warm rays of delight and inspiration. Your issue curator, Peppa Martin IG: @thecommotion.ca thecommotion.ca
If you’re a patron or subscriber, isn’t the Ryan Van Der Hout fine art print a divine addition to your copy of this issue? It’s been such a pleasure to work with United Contemporary, Akasha Art Projects, Clear Bags, and Hahnemühle paper on this extra-special limited edition feature.
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WINTER 2022/2023 ISSUE #66 ISSN 1708-282X EDITOR/PUBLISHER
PhotoED Magazine is published 3x/year, SPRING, FALL, & WINTER See www.photoed.ca for subscription and advertising information. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40634032 PhotoED Magazine 2100 Bloor St. West, Suite 6218 Toronto, ON M6S 5A5 This issue was made possible with the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Government of Canada.
Rita Godlevskis /rita@photoed.ca
Ruth Alves Alan Bulley Kerry Manders brandy ryan Peppa Martin Heather Morton Ali Penko ART DIRECTOR
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
COPY EDITOR
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Supernatural 4 by Anna Church
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PICKED FRESH FOR YOU A few resources to help you cultivate some fresh ideas BY ALAN BULLEY
FLOWER: EXPLORING THE WORLD IN BLOOM Phaidon Editors, with an introduction by Anna Pavord Grey skies getting you down? Open a copy of Flower and step into all the colours of a perpetual summer. The book is a beautiful catalogue of how flowers have been portrayed in historical and contemporary art. Photography is well represented so you’ll see Robert Mapplethorpe and Karl Blossfeldt, but you’ll also come across work by T.M. Glass, Nobuyoshi Araki, and even Martin Parr. Each page highlights a single work with a brief contextual discussion and draws attention to key features, and is printed at the highest quality. Treat your eyes and inspire your own photography! Hardcover, 2020, 352 pages $74.95 + shipping Phaidon www.chapters.indigo.ca
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THE GARDENER Director Sébastien Chabot Films Reflektor, 2016 Filmed over the course of four seasons near La-Malbaie in Quebec’s Charlevoix region, The Gardener tells the story of the Jardins de QuatreVents (Gardens of the Four Winds). A testament to the vision of Francis Cabot, the gardener in question, the gently paced documentary contemplates the pleasure of designing and enjoying beautiful spaces. The movie is not only a window on the beauty of the evolving gardens, but also gives a glimpse into Cabot’s mind as he creates and anticipates his visitors’ responses. He claims, “Gardeners are all, I suppose, trying to recreate the Garden of Eden.” 88 minutes (full length on Prime) 44 minutes (TV version on CBC Gem) Also available in French as Le jardinier
ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY More and more, plants are not just the subject of photographs but also the substance. As we try to reduce our impact on the planet, it is good to be aware of natural options that are less likely to poison the environment (and ourselves!), particularly in connection with wet darkroom processes. The UK’s Alternative Photography website presents information about alternative processes such as how to brew your own chemistry (think coffee, mint leaves, or seaweed), and also gives readers the chance to connect with like-minded artists, and to view and exhibit work. Canadian photographers will get value from the excellent online bookstore, given restrictions on shipping chemicals internationally. www.alternativephotography.com
Edward Scissorhands Prime, Disney+
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Steel Magnolias Netflix, iTunes Tulip Fever Netflix, iTunes
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The Secret Garden iTunes, STARZ
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A RETRO CINEMATIC BOUQUET Not in the mood for a gallery or a book, but still looking for (very loosely) floral themed inspiration!? Hit the remote with your green thumb for some retro movie fun!
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Contemporary art from a prairie perspective Subscribe today for $22/year at BlackFlash.ca Cover: Cover: Zachary Zachary Ayotte, Ayotte, Untitled Untitled from from “Notes “Notes on on Digging Digging a a Hole,” Hole,” 2020. 2020. Courtesy Courtesy of of the the artist. artist.
BIPOC TALENT IN BLOOM BY HEATHER MORTON
ONE OF THE MOST DYNAMIC things about the BIPOC Photo Mentorship Program (BPM) is how diverse our mentees are in terms of their interests and the challenges they face as they emerge towards professional practice.
Mentee Natalie Asumeng had long worked with elements of nature and the mentorship program came at an opportune time to help her move her work forward in meaningful ways as she pushed through pandemic and post-post-secondary graduation malaise. She says, “As I graduated during the height of the pandemic, lots of art grads lost their passion to make work, including myself. I wanted to break out of that mindset, so I applied for the mentorship to see if that would give me the spark of creativity I needed. Joining the BIPOC Photo Mentorship Program was the beginning of a new desire to continue being an artist outside of school.”
ABOVE: “Growth” from the book Amity. The concept of this image is that the earth is growing with the rocks, engulfing it within its core, soon to become one. It represents how friendship grows and is inspired by the saying “you are who you surround yourself with.”
Natalie Asumeng and Jessica Thalmann (inset).
Pandemic pressures weren’t all bad. In fact, Natalie seemed to lean into it: “The absence of institutionalized value systems led to non-traditional spaces such as living rooms becoming used as studios and gallery spaces where individuals felt safe to play with different mediums and forms of creating.” She goes on to describe her project A Dimension of Creative Invasion and Identity Confrontation: “This scene (next page) represents a moment of time and the act of deconstructing aspects of one’s identity through creative play within an everchanging sanctuary.” Natalie worked with mentor Jessica Thalmann who helped her continue to photo ED 13
Patrons and subscribers received a Ryan Van Der Hout limited edition print “Vanitas with Tulips, Pear and Skull” thanks to...
• custom framing • fine art printing • print order fulfillment
how can we elevate the presentation of your photography? contact us
204D carlton street, toronto on m5a 2l1 647.348.0104
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working with creatives since 2009
“Gl amouri sav ei l ,anda s hi el dt hatc anbedonned f ors el f pr ot ec t i on. ” -Ry anVanDerHout
Uni t edCont empor a r yi sdy na mi c T or ont oga l l er yc r ea t edt os uppor tt he v i s i onsa ndpr a c t i c esofoura r t i s t s . Ry anVanDerHout ,Qui c kLewi ns ky,phot ogr aphwi t hr hi nes t ones ,2021
www. uni t edc ont empor a r y . c om
“Vanitas with Tulips, Pear and Skull,” 2021
EKPHRASIS
a conversation between Kerry Manders + brandy ryan on RYAN VAN DER HOUT’S COLLECTING DUST Kerry Manders: “Vanitas with Tulips, Pear and Skull,” is one of my favourite images from the Collecting Dust series. It’s a still life with an abiding sense of movement in it. Look at the way the flowers are bending towards the skull. They might be covered in dust and ash, but they aren’t wilting or shrivelled up. They seem bloomy, fleshy, robust. Still, life.
really dramatic effect. Ryan addresses this direction in a project statement: he drew inspiration from the ruin follies of eighteenthcentury Europe — buildings that were made to look as if they’re the architectural remains of buildings … that never actually existed. What do we do with this allusion to past artifice?
brandy ryan: Even the verb tense of the series title — that present participle of collecting — suggests activity rather than stillness. There’s a tension and a mystery we are being invited to explore: what — or who — is collecting dust? For sure, the obvious answer is the objects that are covered in it. But it’s the photographer, Ryan, not time, doing the collecting, the covering.
br: “Ruin follies” is such a great term. And the “as if” is doing a lot of work there. The creation of seeming remains is necessarily so pristine, so precise. Ryan’s work has this quality, too. His tablescapes and object sculptures are meticulous. He puts himself in conversation and collusion with older forms. There’s an intensely citational aspect to his work. He conjures the past, going so far as to suggest that structures accrue value over time.
KM: In recreating the old Dutch masters, in sculpturally and photographically replicating Baroque vanitas paintings, Ryan creates anew an artificial sense of antiquity. Of time passing and objects past with his studio dust and ash. These images have a
KM: Yes! He navigates the present, the “collecting,” and the past, the callback to ruin follies, the dust, and in so doing also conjures the future. It’s a kind of photographic ekphrasis that renders time elastic, fluid, unstable. There’s a futuristic, sci-fi,
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THE GALLERY SUBMISSIONS BY OUR READERS
1.
2.
1. KATHERINE CHENG Aurora, ON [Dis/Re]Connected: Through the 5 Senses
2. DAVID GRAY Vancouver, BC Life on the Pond IG: @dbgrayphoto
3.
3. ANASTASIA SPIVAK Toronto, ON A poppy for Ukraine IG: @theanastasiaspivak
IG: @katherinekycheng
photo ED 55
Canary Wharf Bikes by Jonathan Pearce
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