Growing up I remember a bookshelf in our house filled with thick, heavy photo albums. I would often pull an album off the shelf and sit on the floor, slowly taking in the images page by page, soaking up each moment in time as I was whisked away to days past. Stacks of loose photos, edges frayed and wrinkled with that great smell just like an old book. I would gently pick up each one as my eyes took in the light, shadow, colours and subject before placing them back in a neat and delicate pile.
My parents loved photography and spent a lot of time capturing their friends, family and things that inspired them through their film cameras. They continued this passion by creating an enormous catalogue of my brother and I’s childhood, for which I am so grateful and has sparked my own deep love of photography.
My most prized possessions are the photographs, slides and negatives that hold my families stories and memories. Images of my grandfather as a toddler, my mom on her motorcycle at twenty-three years old, my dad at age three about to immigrate from Germany to Canada standing with his whole family. These fragments of the past are so precious and important and they’ve been preserved, frozen in time to revisit and cherish forever.
These family treasures became even more important when my mom passed away June of 2015. I get to see what her life was like before I existed, as a child living in Montreal, as a sixteen year old traveling through Europe for the first time, as a new mom when she had my brother. Each image has such a rich story that I may have not seen or heard about if not for someone clicking the shutter. I am eternally grateful for every single image, it brings me joy and comfort knowing she lives on through these photographs.
My love of photography runs deep and is filled with immense purpose. I hope to help others capture and create a visual legacy for them and future generations to enjoy and constantly rediscover. All of our stories deserve to be told and preserved through the beauty of photography. My “why” is simple, the images I have the honour and pleasure of keeping safe and holding dear to my heart are so very special and important to me. I know others feel the same as I do and I want to help create those beautiful, intimate and emotional images that preserve their story.
This is my moms Pentax K1000 film camera which she had owned since the 70’s. I had completely forgotten she had this until I was packing up her belongings after her passing. The moment I discovered this camera at the bottom of an old box in her bedroom was a bittersweet one. A poignant reminder of our mutual passion and appreciation for this art form, and the fact that she is no longer around to create with it. Now it’s been passed onto me, to safeguard and continue capturing life’s fleeting moments with. Thanks for the camera mom, I know you’re with me every time I click that shutter.
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