Nanaimo Arts Council May Feature Show

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Constructions, Disclosures, and Doorways 

Photography by John Whitelaw

The Feature Show at the Nanaimo Arts Council for the month of May will be John Whitelaw. John has had a life-long interest in natural history, particularly birds. He has been a serious amateur photographer for about 6 years and has attended workshops with Charles Cramer (Ansel Adams/Yosemite Park) and by invitation with Frans Lanting (National Geographic). He uses a digital SLR camera. The images have been lightly processed in Photoshop but they are all essentially as captured.

John notes, that the American essayist Susan Sontag wrote extensively about photography and once asserted that – “Painters construct, photographers disclose”. I believe she was only partially correct. Many of my images are the result of an attempt to combine constructions with disclosure in the context of nature. For botanical examples the challenge is relatively easy, although I try to use less familiar examples of plants. For birds the exercise is trickier. I aim to make images that have both artistic merit and at the same time reveal aspects of the subject that are not often appreciated in more conventional photos. Doorways are a whimsical part of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and cry out to be photographed. They too have been constructed and in a sense also disclose. But I agree with Sontag’s notion that - “To photograph is to confer importance.”

For more information contact the Nanaimo Arts Council at 250.729.3947 or visit nanaimoartscouncil.ca