Newsletter #213: December, 2024
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved
Contents:
- Conversations with Influencers
- Gallery Presentation ~ part II: Multiple Perspective Photography
- Exhibitions
- Visual Narratives
- Gallery Store: Free Shipping & Inventory Reduction
Conversations with Influencers
Jane and Tony O’Malley
As December rolls along, I have been reflecting back over the year, and from an image perspective, it’s been one of the most exciting and meaningful years of my life.
I have been photographing almost exclusively along a 30km stretch of back country road. The landscape is comprised of grasslands, forest, and a scattering of small alkaline lakes. For most people, it would not be considered spectacular, and yet, the nuances of line, colour, tonality, and texture, are astonishingly apparent for those who take the time to discover them.
The ability to look deeply
is the root of creativity.
To see past the ordinary and mundane
and get to what might otherwise be invisible.
Rick Rubin
In my June #210 and October # 212 Newsletters, I spoke to how painters Howard Hodgkin and Tom Thompson had influenced my photographic process and expression. Each in their own way, they had provided me with ideas, encouragement, affirmation, and inspiration. As my step-daughter Teresa points out, “this illustrates the beauty of the ability for artists to be in conversation with each other across time, space, and medium”.
The images shown in this article have been inspired by the Irish painter Tony O’Malley and his wife, Jane, my sister. Both are extremely well known for their abstract art, especially their juxtaposition of texture, shape and colour.
As I drive along the familiar country road, the nuances of texture, shape, and colour, slowly begin to reveal themselves. By imagining various rearrangements and juxtapositions, I enter the stimulating world of creative expression.
By reflecting back on visits to Jane and Tony’s painting studios, and the many ‘happy hour’ conversations about art, I always feel the influence of their encouragement to express myself freely. I feel emboldened.
For me, the abstractions of the land are as beautiful as the land itself; both the land and my abstractions represent reality. One is the known, the other is the unknown. One is the seen, the other is the unseen.
While creating these abstracts, I seek rhythm, balance, and colour harmony.
The visual space given to each shape and the detail or softness given to the lines that separate them, are an important part of these expressions.
By seeing the subtleties of colours and textures found in the land, and blending them in new ways of artistic expression, I feel a joyfulness and deeper connection with that land.
Conversations with other artists provide us with new ways to appreciate and understand the importance of elements in visual design. With this understanding, we can all appreciate abstract art more easily.
My father “Chic” Harris and Freeman Patterson
Throughout my life I have been blessed with many influencers and inspirers. In photography, two people stand out; My father “Chic”, and Freeman Patterson. I was planning on writing this article of deep appreciation, in fact I had started writing it, when serendipitously, Freeman wrote an article about dad and myself in his November Periodical. He beat me to it!
Chic
My father gave me a camera at age 20, and four years later (1964) I set off to explore and photograph the world. I was in search of its natural beauty, and with the 20 rolls of film I had saved up for; each exposure was precious.
When I returned, Dad had retired and had joined the Montreal Camera Club. He was pursuing photography as a serious hobby. Whenever a roll of developed Kodak film arrived in the post, Dad would invite me to join him in critiquing his images. We would discuss composition for hours. I learned a lot from those conversations.
Recently, while visiting a friend’s home on Vancouver Island, I came across a book titled, Canada: A Landscape Portrait in which my father was featured. In it I found the words; “…more and more Chic is concerned with compositional studies rather than the literal documentation of nature…”, and, “Chic had no qualms about allowing a painting to inspire his photography.” Reflecting on my own photography of today, my debt to my father is obvious. His work and philosophy still inspire me.
‘a compositional study rather than a literal documentation of nature’
Freeman
Freeman’s workshops are internationally renowned; he has been a mentor and an inspiration to photographers around the world.
In 1974, my father told me I should accompany him on one of Freeman Patterson’s photographic workshops. I did, and it changed my life. Here are some words I wrote about my workshop experience for Freeman’s retrospective in 2013.
‘….having been warned that we would be challenged visually, we were all apprehensive. Within the first hour of the course, we were sent off on our first assignment. We had to walk down his driveway, choose a subject within two meters of the road, and shoot 36 exposures of that subject.
I choose a fern. Enthusiastically I began to make images. After about 10 exposures, however, I began to draw blanks. I was on the ropes, searching for new perspectives when Freeman conveniently appeared and asked me how I was doing. He asked me if he could take a look through my viewfinder. I obliged. He then asked, “do you mind if I move your camera a bit?” Once again, I obliged.
After moving my tripod a few inches, and changing the angle of my camera, he asked me to take a look. I did, and my life shifted.
By the end of the week, I felt so completely immersed in all the various aspects of this craft, that I could not eat my bowl of corn flakes in the morning without seeing shapes, contrast, and textures in every spoonful.
What I had not yet realized, is that I had been provided with an undoubting confidence to photograph any subject, at a level in which I could use the resulting images successfully in whatever endeavour I wished. That workshop experience had given me the confidence to use the power of photography in a way that changed my life.
Freeman taught me that there was always ‘more’, and that I could never say to myself, I’m finished here, it’s time to move on.
I returned to British Columbia with a new exhilaration to follow my two passions of outdoor adventure and photography. I have continued along that path ever since.’
Many of my successes in photography, such as publishing and teaching, date back to my early experiences with dad and Freeman.
Today, I live my dream. Along with my wife Rita, I explore and photograph the natural world, operate a photographic gallery, and advocate for the generosity of planet Earth.
Please visit Freeman’s website https://www.freemanpatterson.com/. His bi-monthly periodical letters are personal, enriching, and highly recommended. Freeman’s wonderful story about Chic can be read in the December Periodical.
If you read the story (it’s a great one!) that Freeman wrote in his December Periodical, you will understand when I say, the place shown in the image below is my ‘toaster’.
My ‘toaster’ from which all the above images were made.
We photographers should be asking ourselves, do we have our ‘toaster’ project chosen for 2025!
Approaching Classic Art Movements Through Photography ~ Part II.
Abstraction
&
Multiple Perspective Photography
Orange and Black ~ abstract
On September 22, Chris and his step-daughter Teresa made a joint presentation at the Chris Harris Gallery titled ‘Approaching Classic Art Movements Through Photography ~ Part I ~ Impressionism’.
March 2, 2025; Teresa and Chris will continue the series with a talk about Chris’ continuing journey into expressive photography.
Teresa will speak to the freedom-of-expression movement in post Industrial Revolution Europe; and the historical art movements that followed, including the implications to the medium of photography.
Chris will illustrate his evolving creative process as he journeys toward abstraction. This includes his innovative expression called ‘Multiple Perspective Photography’.
In today’s era of technological change, Chris emphasizes that the main tool of his craft is his camera and lens. He does not use AI or software to alter his compositions.
Join us for this special event, where we will explore themes of experimentation and courage, and the pursuit of enlivenment through art.
For those who don’t know Teresa, please refer to Newsletter # 210 for her introduction and biography.
The Invitation:
Rita, Teresa, and Chris, invite you to join us at the Chris Harris Gallery on March 2, 2025, at 2pm. Door opens at 1:30.
There are no tickets, and all are welcome.
However, if you can let us know in advance that you are coming, and would like us to hold a seat, the best way is a phone call or text to Rita at; 250-706-5577.
Exhibitions
Woodland caribou
This a reminder to visit my website Exhibitions which are published every two months
My website ‘Exhibitions’ are designed to be historical archives about the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. I am creating them for two main reasons; first, to provide a comprehensive sense of place for the astonishingly diverse region in which I live, and second, to speak about photography as an art form and a means of artistic expression.
Every passion has its motivation, and mine for the last few decades has been to photograph with intent, to deepen and express the sense of ‘love of place’ that is at the core of human experience. For those of us who live on this volcanic plateau, it is the mountains, grasslands, fjords, alpine meadows and glaciers that call us home. In these curated documentations of photographic journeys and experiences, it is my hope and wish for everyone that they can share this vision and sense of place.
Two new exhibits have recently been published. Please visit them at /exhibition/. I hope to publish a new one with every Newsletter.
Visual Narratives
Old Propeller
This a reminder to visit or subscribe to my weekly Visual Narratives.
As always, you are invited to come along for the adventure of seeing the world as a sacred landscape; as an emotional response; as an artistic philosophy; or as a creative expression.
Within these short visual stories, I explore the connection between personal experiences and artistic output. The experiences may be an outdoor adventure; a personal challenge or assignment; an exploration of a new expressive technique; or an in-depth study of an imaginary world.
To enjoy these short adventures in artistic expression, I invite you to visit and subscribe at /visual-narratives/
Gallery Store: Free Shipping
FREE SHIPPING & inventory reduction:
…. AND a chance to see some new work hanging in the gallery.
It’s the season!
We have changed our online purchase page to offer free shipping in Canada. Find it here at the Book Store.
ALSO; all books purchased in the gallery are 50% off until March 1st. Please take the opportunity to visit us for some bargains and view some new imagery in the gallery.
As always, prints are available from the gallery and by special order. Print Store.
Wishing you a joyful new year from all of us at the Chris Harris Gallery
All of us at Chris Harris Photography thank you for your subscriber support!
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