Photographer’s Statement

I have been a student of photography for over 40 years. I have taught photography to young people and adults. In that time I have learned that good photography requires the right light and a good eye. Luck is frequently a factor as well. But more important than all is one’s interaction with the subject. I have always had an interest in taking photos of flowers and people. I find them both beautiful. My photography is focused on the rituals of human activity and on the rhythms of nature.

I live and work in North Vancouver, but have also been a part-time resident of Hornby Island since 1971. I have been displaying and selling my photographic work on Hornby and in North Vancouver for the last 6 years, and continue to provide cards, photos and posters for the Hornby Island Quilters’ annual show, the Fall Fair and the Community Quilt Raffle. Recently I began a series of photos concentrating on the people of Hornby - the pioneers, the workers, the farmers, the artists and the children of this island.

I made the move to digital photography a few years ago, after many years of film camera work, building 4 darkrooms, and teaching photography the old-fashioned way. I have found two major virtues to digital work. The first is economy of resources and of time. I can take as many shots as I want, and not run out of film. I can select the better ones, and choose to print the best, at home, the same day I took them. I still do no more “improvement” of the images than I used to do in the darkroom. The second virtue is perhaps more important. As I make portraits, I can share the results instantly with the people I am recording. Together we can choose the shot we both like - I have found  the process of portrait photography to be more and more a collaborative one.

- Wayne Wiens