About Wendy

I’m not sure why my parents decided to give me a Kodak instamatic camera at the age of 10. I spent many evenings as a child drawing and painting at the kitchen table with my Dad, who was a serious amateur painter. Perhaps my parents sensed the pencils, inks, and paints were not my true calling. It’s a good thing Dad liked to photograph as well.

That little camera sparked my continuing exploration into the wonder of photography and fascination for visual discovery. I choose to work in the “old fashioned” medium of film and wet darkroom silver printing. The tactile and magical quality of these materials continues to inspire me. I have not yet exhausted their possibilities, and may never discover the boundaries. My desire is to create photographs that elevate the language of light, shine with an intangible quality that embraces sensitive treatment of the subject, and respects the tradition of finely crafted silver printing. I explore places and spaces, acknowledging my curiosity and respect for cultural history and the natural environment. When coupled with the magical quality of certain kinds of light, the subjects reveal themselves.

Along the way I collected a degree from the University of British Columbia in Recreation Education, and spent 20 years working as a recreation therapist in a physical rehabilitation setting. My photographic knowledge has been acquired from many sources, including an introduction to SLR cameras and the darkroom at Kitsilano Secondary, self directed study, part time course work, and workshop attendance both in Canada and the U.S. I also have many in the Vancouver photography community to thank for providing direction. I continually challenge myself to present the visual world in new and interesting ways, photographing and refining my visual sense and evolving my concept of visual design. The aspiration is to push these concepts as far as possible. My travel experiences have allowed me to experience art and design across a wide range of cultures and countries. These cultural immersions inform the qualities I bring to my work. I am drawn to the works of master photographers Weston, Kertesz, Watanabe, and Uelsmann, and painters O’Keefe, Mondrian, Monet and  Picasso.

I am honoured that my work has recently received several international awards.

Currently I am pushing my options in the darkroom to create layers within my photographs, suggesting, depth, movement, and visual dissonance. The tactile nature of fibre paper is a perfect base for these explorations. I have been using multiple negatives, or multiple exposures of the same negative projected onto a single print, and introducing materials such as art glass into the enlarger light path. Early results include “Salt Spring Lilies”, and “Trolleys”. Additionally, I have returned to my “roots” – like that little instamatic many years ago –and have been exploring the capabilities of the Holga , a plastic medium format camera with  no available controls, other than the photographer’s ability to read and interpret the available light.

I want to both engage and challenge those who view my photographs. I would like to inspire people to develop a visual sense, and am delighted when people respond strongly to different photographs. If my photographs cause someone to pause, to wonder, to question, or to see something in a new way, then I have created a successful photograph.

Further Information

For more information on processes and ongoing research, please see our Process Page and our photography log page.

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