Irish Moss Photography - Canadian Geographic Photographer

My photography essay on the Irish Moss Industry on Prince Edward Island, Canada, appears this month in Canadian Geographic.

The story behind these photographs begins one blustery morning when the rain was pelting my tent whilst camping with family and friends. The dawn brought with it a slew of men and horses, crawling the North Cape beach and collecting the 'blessing from the sea'. The photography that day was moody and dramatic as exhausted horses and jubilant men played in the stormy waves. The seawater dripped off their backs, no damper to the joy brought by the bounty the sea had bestowed upon them.

This led me to investigate further. I met Carl Doucette, a brick of a man who has spent over 50 years raking the moss off the sea bed. His arms are testament to the physical labour that has defined his life and his spirit is calming. Having spent so much time on the water, Carl's is a man comfortable with his place in the world. We sat in his kitchen drinking coffee and tears filled his eyes as he recounted his story about the decline of his industry and his uncertain future.

Heading out on the water with Carl that afternoon will remain one of those memorable experiences as a photographer. The sun glinted off the waves and the moss raked from the sea quickly piled up in the boat. I tried my own hand at raking in the moss and was quickly reminded why Carl's arms were small trees. It was an honour to spend time with Carl and I am indebted to his story and time for making this essay possible.

My thanks also goes out to the folks at Shea's Irish Moss Plant in Anglo Tignish. They were kind enough to allow me to work with them for a few hours and photograph their dusty, cavernous operation. They bale the moss into packages that weigh over 120 lbs, (as eagerly demonstrated to me by Rodney, the strong man in the operation).

It was a pleasure to put this essay together. Now go out to your nearest newsstand (in Canada) and buy the issue to see the images.

Desert Bound

When I tell friends that I am headed to Las Vegas, the question 'why' glazes over their eyes. It seems that I am perhaps not suited for the city, but, luckily all is righted when I explain that it is just an point of access to Death Valley and SouthWestern Utah.

I am really excited about spending some time shooting the South Western landscape and relaxing with my family who is meeting me in that wonderful corner of the world. I will be out of communication for a couple of weeks, but stay tuned for images of the SouthWestern landscape.

Capitol Climate Action in Washington

Today, thousands of individuals converged on Washington D.C for the Capitol Climate Action, a march to surround and sit in on the Capitol Coal Plant. Check out the images at http://www.photoshelter.com/va/climatechange

Cinema Planeta and Cape Farewell Exhibit

My Cape Farewell photography show is going to be in Mexico at the Cinema Planeta Film Festival, from the 11 - 15 of March. I think this is pretty exciting. That means that the images from the Cape Farewell Voyage have been shown in Cairo, London, Ottawa, and now, Cuernavaca, Mexico. So if you are in Mexico, Cuernavaca is apparently 1.5 hours outside of Mexico City, go and check it out.

Site Updates

A few site updates to announce, a new Nunavut page has been added and there have been some more images added to the Panorama page. To top that off, the whole Blog has been re-formated. Enjoy

The Age of Stupid

I saw this video in Poznan during COP 14 at a pre release screening. It is shocking and is set to hit the mainstream movie world in just over a month. Check it out if it hits a city near you. You can also check out the Canadian review here.

Anthony Suau - World Press Photo Winner

The World Press Photo Jury has announced the winner of the World Press 2009 competition. Anthony Suau's image of a eviction proceeding in Ohio was chosen as the image that, according to the jury, best represented the most important story in the world today, the collapsing global financial system.

I disagree with the jury of course and would strongly argue that Climate Change and the impending collapse of the planet is slightly more important then the global economy. After all, without a sustainable planet, the other won't exist. But, our differences aside, Suau's image is beautiful and I recommend that you check out all the winners. As always, some amazing and shocking imagery.

Winterlude and Cape Farewell

This weekend several of the voyagers from the Cape Farewell Youth Expedition will be giving presentations during the wonderful Winterlude Festival in Ottawa. Although, according to the Winterlude website, "Due to weather conditions, the Sun Life Snowflake Kingdom is closed." I am not to sure what that means, but alas, it sounded like fun!

So instead of venturing into the Kingdom go to the 'Cape Farewell Young Explorers' Held at: Confederation Park (Rogers Crystal Garden) on Saturday and Sunday, February 14 and 15, noon and 2:30 pm
MAP

4 of the images from the expedition are also on display in the Crystal Garden. Less then two weeks after being in the capital of England, the show and voyagers are now in the capital of Canada! AND, there are plans for more exhibits and presentations to come throughout the year.....

If you are in the area, you have to go to Ottawa, skate on the canal, eat a beaver tail and say hello to the voyagers.

Winter Photography in the Netherlands

A freeze has bit the Netherlands over the last few weeks. It has become a great time to curl up with a book or a friend and sip hot chocolate, or a great time to take you kid out for a sleigh ride along the canals.

All across the country the skates are being dusted off and the flying dutch are back. It doesn't matter if you are Canadian, Dutch, Australian, or a global citizen, we can all rejoice in the cold.

Earth

The BBC documentary film, Earth, just played itself out on my computer screen and I feel humbled, awed and inspired. The images, for their sharpness and graphical nature would make even the most talented image makers jealous. I found myself wondering how they managed this or that shot and my mouth was stuck in that open awe pose for most of the film.

Yet, never before have the images of the natural world resounded so deeply within my soul. Coming off a incredible time in Poznan at the UN Climate Change Conference this film particularly urged me to protect the valuable ecosystems and animals of this planet. I have been lucky enough to photograph some of the most beautiful places on earth, and I found the breathtaking imagery hit home on an emotional level. For those of us that are seeking inspiration to continue or join the fight to stop climate change, this film will have a profound affect on you. We have one ‘lucky’ planet, lets clean up our mess and make survival of all nations and life a reality.

Photoshelter - Pro Stock

You might notice a new little widget to the right of this page. I have recently joined the Pro Stock collection of Photoshelter. Photoshelter is a service that promotes the policy of 'fair trade photography'. Let me explain a little, the last few years has seen a boom in the sales of Royalty Free imagery and microstock agencies. It is no secret that this policy has benefited very few professional photographers and sites like iStock Photo which sell images for pittance turn around and give photographers a pittance of that pittance. The big boys in the stock industry, (Corbis and Getty) have welcomed the huge increase of amateur photographers that are willing to sell their images for nothing, and in the process have effectively cut the bottom out of the stock market and making it much harder to make any money on stock.

It is nothing new that our industry is changing and many of us, including myself, welcome that change. We must adapt and diversify but the microstock and Royalty Free has certainly brought the quality of our work down. A photographer that I respect greatly, Vincent Laforet, has more to say on the state of our industry here.

So we get things like Photoshelter and Digital Railroad. Both which offer photographers the option to set their prices and receive respectful amount of the final sale price (70% and 80%) respectively. It is my hope that more and more art buyers that are searching for stock imagery will recognize this effort of 'fair trade photography' and use more of these two services.

If you wish to see what I have in the collection, click on it below or on the right. I am in the process of adding plenty more so check back.

Portfolio 2008

A portfolio process is a long and painful process. Your ego will be trampled to the point where it walks out the door, leaving you crying in a dark room because IT doesn't want to be abused any more.

The process takes many hours of culling and editing and seeking opinions you respect. Then you spend hours in front of a computer screen working on images. At which point you find the best printer you can find, (Maarten Wouters at M*G!C), the best paper you can find, (Ilford Gold Fibre), and you watch the cash take the same route your ego did two weeks before. Once it is printed you spend more hours fitting it into your book and then removing every speck of dust from the prints as if they were disease.

One of the questions you must solve is, how many images should I put in. Anywhere from 10 - 50 images can be found in a book, but I believe in the saying 'Less is More' and my wallet wholeheartedly agrees. Between 20 - 25 images is the maximum. Any more then that and the client needs to be a family member or your best friend because no one else has that amount of patience.

After 8 years of traveling and photographing 5 different continents, what made the cut? See Here.

Soccer Indonesian Style

Early morning, walking along Kuta beach in Bali, I had to photograph this little character. The image of him carrying that soccer ball with the waves crashing in the back ground was great. I hope you enjoy it as well.