studio re-construction.
studio re-construction.
studio re-construction.
Hey hey!
Long time no see! Miss us? We missed you!
We missed you so much that we linked arms with Exhibit Change and are helping to organize Through My Lens - Toronto and we want YOU to come out and join the fun!
Want to know more? Of course you do! Click on the link above and sign up! It’s a great way to flex those unused photography muscles and look at the city you love in a whole new light!
But wait! There’s more! Sign up and have the images you contribute to the project displayed in Parkdale for NUIT BLANCHE! What could be more awesome than walking around Toronto late at night and seeing your work contribute to the amazing Toronto Art Scene?!
Maybe this, but TML-T is a close second.
Cheers,
Hitoshi & Vince
Tomorrow night is the opening for “FROM THE GROUND UP” at Sleeping Giant Gallery! Party starts at 8pm! Woohoo!! Here’s another photographer that’s part of the amazing lineup! Her name is Sarah Prior and Hello Foto always has a blast exploring the streets and shooting with her!
Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Sarah, D90, 18-105mm with brown eye. I was born in Malaysia but currently reside in Hong Kong. I like taking long walks down dark allies and ignoring sunsets on roof tops to look for old broken rusty shit instead.
Dark allies and rust! Don’t forget to get your tetanus shot! So how did you get into photography?
Sibling-rivalry, I won this round.
You sure did! Where do you get your inspirations from?
From the not so beautiful things in life.
You certainly have an interesting brown eye! Who is your favourite photographer and why?
Ansel Adams- I love the way he makes rust look so good.
What are you planning for CONTACT this year?
I planned to meet the deadline.
Yes! and we thank you for that! If you were a camera, what would you be?
A surveillance camera in a junkyard in Dhaka.
There you have it folks! Sarah Prior! D90, 18-105mm with brown eye, dark allies and rust! Come check out what she sent over from Hong Kong for this CONTACT exhibition!
Cheers,
Hitoshi & Vince
Only 4 more days until “FROM THE GROUND UP” exhibition opening at Sleeping Giant Gallery! Want to know more about another photographer? Sure you do! Meet Zeekid!
Tell us a bit about yourself
I went to the University of Waterloo where I got my degree. Most people look at me, and noticing that I’m Asian, ask if I studied Engineering or Math. I’m guilty of the latter. That’s my analytic side, which, over the years in the corporate world has been beating down my creative side. I hope to one day combine my love of business, marketing and the arts to do something that I’m truly proud of.
Sounds awesome! Keep us updated on any future endeavours! So how did you get into photography?
I got into photography because my father is an avid photographer. People always talk about catching “the moment” on film where a split second earlier or later would have meant a missed opportunity. I remember looking at my dad’s old yearbook when he was the editor and photographer. I remember one captured “moment”. It was at a football game and one of the players launched himself in the air to catch the football. One of the opposing players tackled him mid flight, his hand securely grabbing his crotch. Catching that “moment” can become an addictive but fun pursuit.
Ouch! That’s why we’re armchair Quarterbacks! Haha! So where do you get your inspirations from?
I get my inspiration from the world around me. I love trying to slow myself down, to change my point of view and to find those things that most people walk past on a daily basis.
Who is your favourite photographer and why?
There are too many to list but I’m loving Nick Brandt for his amazing fine art wildlife photography.
We hear you. There are too many great photographers out there! What are you planning for Contact this year?
For Contact I’ll be showing a number of my photographs where I’ve focused on simple things like lines, textures, patterns, shadows, and light that would have been otherwise lost in a busy scene. When you step back you might not see those things but by carefully eliminating those extraneous elements something different emerges.
Last question! If you were a camera, what would you be?
Hmm, I would say a Nikon D3 for its amazing low light ability. I mean how cool would it be to see in the dark?
There you have it folks! Come out and show Zeekid some love!
Cheers,
Hitoshi & Vince
There’s a total of 11 amazing photographers for the show “FROM THE GROUND UP” at the Sleeping Giant Gallery! Mavis Yeh from Vancouver BC is one of them!
Tell us a bit about yourself
I’m a hazardous materials diggin’ environmental consultant by day and a stealth mode photographer by night. I love to capture moments that the average joe don’t give 2 cents about and also the natural landscape that makes me calm and happy inside.
Stealth mode photographer by night. I like the sound of that! So how did you get into photography?
Started from a 3.1 mega-pixel Kodak point and shoot when I was in high school. I shot anything and everything just so that I can keep it all tucked away on CDs and hard drives. I’m a sentimental person and has a hard time letting things go and photographs are probably the easiest way for me to hold onto a moment forever that would otherwise be forgotten in a few hours, weeks or years.
Where do you get your inspirations from?
My inspirations comes from my dad’s Chinese brush paintings where less is always more. Why fill up an entire canvas when you can let the viewer use their imagination?
Who is your favourite photographer and why?
At this moment, I’m gushing over Erin Gilmore’s work. But to tell you the truth, my friends Frank Yeh and Jessica Kuan are my two absolute favourites right now - and I am learning so much from them every time we shoot together. :)
What are you planning for Contact this year?
I’m working on a collection called “An Ode to Fraser”. It’s dedicated to the Fraser River. “It” has been beaten up over the years with pollution - and we (the general public) certainly take it for granted. I drive over it on my daily commute and I don’t think many people stop to say: wow, the river looks spectacular today. Truth is that “it” takes my breath away almost everyday. So I’ve decided that my collection will show case some of the many beautiful facets of the Fraser and hopefully, I’ll be able to take your breath away as well.
If you were a camera, what would you be?
A polaroid so I can capture the moment - with no post processing.
Don’t miss out on “An Ode to Fraser”. It will surely take your breath taken away!
Cheers,
Hitoshi & Vince
Happy Mother’s day to all you lovely mom’s out there!
CONTACT is well under way and the exhibition “FROM THE GROUND UP” at the Sleeping Giant Gallery is only a week away! Without further ado, we present the next photographer from the show! Julianna Yeung from Boston, MA!
Tell us a a little bit about yourself.
Looking at everyone else’s bio and portfolio, I’m probably the least experienced in the group. It’s true that I did photography back in high school but that was eons ago! I have only just picked up the camera again and still in the process of learning how to use it properly.
I guess I possess the Gemini duo-personality trait. I do nothing artistic during my day job. I’m a healthcare consultant (aka a HUGE nerd). I help engineers develop new medical products, which is all very logical and technical. Outside of my day job, however, I enjoy doing theatre and, of course, photography, both of which let loose the impulsive, creative side of me.
How did you get into photography?
In all honesty, I took photography in high school because I was absolutely horrible in art. I didn’t have (and still don’t have) the patience or the talent to create things with my hands. Photography requires the least amount of ‘hand’ work so I chose it to both satisfy the fine art requirement and avoid showcasing my clumsiness at drawing and crafting. But I gradually developed great passion for photography. I started to realize that I do have a bit of artistic talent, at least visually, and enjoy exploring the world through the viewfinder.
Where do you get your inspirations from?
Everyday life. Photography to me is about capturing those ordinary yet precious moments that we experience throughout our lives. I love snapping those spontaneous shots that capture our frame of mind at that instance, like when you look up and see a sunny blue sky and think to yourself what a great day it is!
Who is your favourite photographer and why?
I love food so I am a big fan of food photography. I’ve been following Béatrice Peltre’s blog (http://www.latartinegourmande.com/) for a while and her photographs always make me drool. I also really like Jose Villa’s fine art approach to photography (http://www.josevillablog.com/). He specializes in portraiture, which I’m horrible at, and wedding photography. I admire how he can always capture the best looking angle of people and his use of light to create gorgeous vintage style pictures.
What are you planning for CONTACT this year?
An irregular shaped bulletin board and frame-in-frame. That’s all I’m going to say for now. You (yes, YOU!) should come and see for yourself what that means, and, of course, to check out the amazing works of my other fellow photographers.
If you were a camera, what would you be?
A Polaroid camera. Any Polaroid will do. Don’t ask me to choose one because I can’t! It fits perfectly with my philosophy of taking spontaneous shots. That’s why I recently become totally addicted to the Instagram app on the iPhone. It’s the next best thing to being a Polaroid camera. Get the app and follow me @jules_y (shameless self-promotion)!
There you have it folks! Don’t miss out on Julianna’s irregular shaped bulletin board and frame-in-frame masterpiece!
Cheers,
Hitoshi & Vince
Busy busy busy busy!
That’s the name of the game, that’s how we likes it! Anyone who knows us on a personal level knows that it’s about this time of the year where we get hit with a ton of projects, the most important being our exhibitions for the CONTACT photography festival starting in May. It’s really amazing to see all the love and support from everyone and we really hope you’ll come out and celebrate our opening reception. The weather man call for a 100% chance of fun times so you better bring your party wellies!
We asked some of the photographers participating our exhibition titled “FROM THE GROUND UP” to tell us a bit about themselves. Now presenting… Sabrina Lau!!!! WAHOO!
Hi! I’m Sabrina Lau (http://sabrinalau.ca/) and I started developing my photography hobby into something more serious a little over a year ago. My mum worked in television production in Hong Kong and Vancouver, and thanks to her, I’ve owned a camera since my first summer camp at age 7. Some of the more memorable cameras I’ve owned include a neon green Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles camera that said “Cowabunga! Smile!” when you pushed a button, and another that displayed red glowing phrases at the bottom of each print, such as “I love you!” or “What a shot!”.
My childhood of gimmicky cameras morphed into an adolescence of admiring my more artistic friends’ photography work, until I became a prolific contributer to Flickr’s wardrobe remix group. Admiring street style and fashion-inspired photography made me more and more adventurous, and the Flickr community provided a great incubation ground for experimenting. As such, two of my favourite photographers are the inimitable Richard Avedon (I loved the way he styled Funny Face), and LA-based photographer Alex Prager.
Living in New York has given me some great opportunities to shoot a wide variety of events and promotional pictures, but last fall I carved out some time to get back to the basics of developing black and white film. My contribution to Contact this year is largely based on the work of Wynn Bullock. I’d like to thank Hello Foto for extending an invitation to me!
*I searched all over eBay for a picture of that Ninja Turtles camera, to no avail. Seeing as it’s occupying a inordinate amount of my brain space at the moment, if I were a camera, I’d be that one.
I don’t know about you guys, but she had us at “Ninja Turtle Camera”.
Cheers,
Hitoshi & Vince
Talking to Jen Chow is like randomly clicking on Wikipedia links. Good times and awesome surprises. We took a bit of time from her busy schedule to pick her brain and learn more about what makes her tick.
Hello Hello! Tell us a bit about yourself
I studied accounting/finance and worked in that for a while, but am now balancing that out with a master of design program at OCADU. Loving it lots and want to do my thesis work on something relating to the aging population. Hoping to do some cool work afterwards that combines business and design, namely in strategy and innovation consulting, grounded in people and what people care about.
Nice. It really is about balance, isn’t it? So what do you love about photography?
I hoard old cameras, some from value village, some from friends and family for safekeeping. I store a few expired packs of precious polaroid film in the fridge, love shooting film, started with an olympus om-2…and then discovered the fun that is lomography. I usually shoot a lot more when I’m traveling (love my lc-a for stealth shooting). Like taking pics of people, but am often too shy to ask, so I end up taking pictures of the backs of people, haha. I’m working on being braver in that area…what else? I started learning photography in high school with black and white photo paper and pinhole cameras in a dark room, fun times. Lately, I’ve been shooting a bit more in digital with my ricoh gx100.
Ah, Value Village. The annual calender with coupons is the best $3 you’ll ever spend… Which doesn’t lead into our next question at all. Where do you get your inspiration from?
My inspirations for photography? People and stories. I love photos with people and photos with a story behind it. I like street photography and photojournalism.
Photography is nice like that. So are there any photographers who have recently blown your mind?
Jamel Shabazz for his ability to capture people in their natural, dignified state and his genuine approach to connecting with people. I like lomography for its fun, spontaneous “moment-capturing” approach. Also, some of the guys from the Magnum photo collective have done some amazing work. Life magazine is nice too.
So can you tell us what to expect for Contact this year?
Not sure yet.
Haha, fair enough. Okay, last question. If you could be a camera, what would you be?
…a lomo lc-a?
There you go, folks! Another talent to look out for starting on the 15th of May at Sleeping Giant! It’s gonna be a doozy!
Cheers,
Hitoshi & Vince
Hello Hello!
Well, things have been pretty crazy for us down here at the Imaginatorium, but I’m happy to report that we have time to write a quick post… Right before CONTACT MADNESS SETS IN!!!!
Yes, it’s that time of the year again and we have something special this time around. Not ONE, but TWO exhibitions for the beautiful month of May!
First we have a group show in the Junction at Chuck Akudu Gallery with a couple familiar faces. Postcard love letters to the city we call home? Tell us more! Or better yet, check it out HERE!
The second show is going to bring 11 photographers from all over the world and cram all that photographic deliciousness into Sleeping Giant Gallery. Will the walls be able to withstand 11X MAXIMUM AWESOMENESS? Wait and see. Right… HERE!
Other than that, life’s been treating us well. Having a studio allows us to see other amazing people do really creative stuff in addition to giving us the chance to try new things, but more on that some other time…
So stay tuned! We’re going to start firing out bio’s of the different people we’ll be exhibiting with and hopefully you’ll catch CONTACT MADNESS!!!!!
But seriously, folks. Wear a sweater. We know the weather is getting warmer, but it’s still chilly at night.
Cheers,
Hitoshi & Vince
hello foto hearts you all!
