February 2012
4 posts
2 tags
PHOTOGRAPH YOUR BACKYARD
As an aspiring young photographer I thought that making photographs that were relevant meant that I had to get on a plane and go somewhere exotic.
Now I make some of my most important photographs literally in my own backyard.
Experienced editors would try to impart this simple wisdom to me when I would show them portfolios jammed full of images from the far corners of the world.
Now I try to...
2 tags
THE AGE OF CREATIVITY
The creativity of youth is unencumbered by expectations and prescribed outcomes. It is creativity in a true state of grace.
On Tuesday, our daughter Molly will turn four, and the opportunity to witness her creative openness and freedom has had a profound affect on my own thinking about the creative process.
If as adults we can learn to get out of our own way, and let go of what we know, or...
4 tags
FOR THE LOVE OF PAPER: PART II
Lightly toned with Selenium at 1:25 this paper takes on only a slight tonal shift that I really like, retaining its deep rich blacks and luminous highlights.
I have a stack of negatives from two projects waiting to be printed and already the first signs of spring are in the air. Time to get busy.
QG
Paper: Ilford MG Art 300
1 tag
PDN : HANDMADE BOOKS
MILE ZERO: A PLACE UNCERTAIN
Featured in Lauren Henkin’s wonderful article on handmade books.
Photo District News: March 2012
I am knee deep in production on the book and have sold 70% of the edition.
Copies can still be ordered by contacting Diana Millar at Luz Gallery or through the website at: http://www.luzgallery.com/mile-zero-artist-book
Release Date: April 2012.
QG
January 2012
5 posts
4 tags
FOR THE LOVE OF PAPER
Diana and I both love paper.
We love the feel and texture of many types of paper and I truly appreciate good paper when it comes to printing as well as for making books. It is with this in mind that I have been enthusiastic to try out Ilford’s Art 300 MG Fibre paper.
Today was my chance to finally do just that, and from what I can see, I like this paper.
It feels good in the hand, just...
4 tags
LET IT SNOW
Or rain, or blow up a gail… it all makes for more interesting pictures.
Street photography is not just a fair weather sport.
Although it is extremely pleasant to walk around on warm sunny days, and generally speaking there a a lot more people out in the streets, it is also well worth venturing out when the weather cranks it up a notch or two.
People behave differently in bad weather. A...
5 tags
PLATINUM & PIXELS
Test Print: Hand-coated Platinum / Palladium Print
Digitally enlarged negative from Leica M9 image file.
Yes it’s true, I’m back working in the darkroom but that does not mean that my M9 is up for sale.
Far from it.
When I first bought my M9 in 2010, it did not take long for me to realize that a new world of opportunity had opened up. The option to make exceptionally good,...
3 tags
NEW DARKROOM ROCKS
First printing session in my new darkroom today!
This darkroom has been setup for printing both silver and platinum with a black light UV exposure box that will handle 16x20 inch paper, 4x5 enlarger, and archival print washers. It is very comfortable in there with a good layout for workflow and the vents keep things from getting too heady.
Nothing like putting on some good music and having 5...
2 tags
PLAYING DRESS-UP
One of the themes I write about here is “knowing who you are”, by which I mean that deeper understanding of how to be true to ourselves rather then cloak ourselves in the facades of how others see us or would like to see us.
My daughter - who is almost 4 years old - loves, like most children to dress up in various costumes and outfits that she puts together. In her mind she can...
December 2011
5 posts
1 tag
GET YOUR PARTY HAT ON
As I write, the New Year is making it’s way around the world.
We live in one of the last places on earth to greet the new year, but our party hats are ready and so are we. Ready to welcome another year of adventures, opportunities, and with luck, prosperity.
Every year comes with it’s hardships and it’s rewards and so we have set our sites on goals that will draw our friends...
2 tags
TRAVELLING LIGHT
When I first seriously picked up a camera thirty years ago, my dad’s old Konica SLR, it had just one prime lens, no light meter, no auto exposure, no auto focus… no options, except what I chose to photograph.
I learned photography with that camera.
I learned to judge exposure by trial and error, eventually learning to read the light with my eyes. To this day I’m still in the...
3 tags
THE MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE
Five time zones wide, Canada is a large country.
In a romantic way, I’m proud of this, personally energized by the possibility of adventure that this represents. In more practical terms, I see how size has produced a dysfunctional three-tired system of government, and how in so many ways it has disenfranchised many Canadians.
If you include the return trip I made as a small boy, playing...
2 tags
JUST FOR LAUGHS
Wearing a Cadet uniform at a Buskers Festival is a little like wearing a red flag into the bull ring. In about three seconds she is going to spot these two boys and have her way with them… all in good fun.
4 tags
CITIZEN JOURNALISM
When I went to photography school in the mid 1980s, it was made quite clear to us - as aspiring photojournalists - that the future of photojournalism was dead.
Quite simply the still photographic image was losing the race for public media attention to a sexier, faster, wealthier medium… television.
Then along came digital photography. Suddenly the still image was back in the game. and...
November 2011
4 posts
3 tags
THIS IS INDIAN LAND
The recent Occupy Wall Street movement, and our North American Thanksgiving (both Canadian and American) have had me thinking more then usual about economic, social, political, and cultural imbalances and injustices.
I hope that the concept of 99% vs. 1% will sink in, for all of its many implications.
QG
3 tags
MILE ZERO : PRE-ORDERS
MILE ZERO : A PLACE UNCERTAIN
Mile Zero : A Place Uncertain is an exploration of the artist’s relationship to a city struggling with its identity and the burden of modern urban disfunction. Quinton’s images are richly charged and evocative visual metaphors for a place uncertain.
Artist: Quinton Gordon Published by: Reciprocity Editions
Dimensions: 5.5 x 7.5 inches,...
4 tags
BACK IN VICTORIA
One of the great joys of hosting workshops is the opportunity to work with other photographers who’s work you admire, but perhaps more importantly, who’s philosophy you both admire and share.
For me, the most valuable part of any workshop does not reside in the images that are made, but in the conversations that occur. It is the sharing of ideas on photography and philosophical...
AHHH... MONTREAL
I’m in Montreal co-leading a workshop and looking forward to having a day to get out on the streets myself… more images soon.
QG
October 2011
3 posts
CROSSROADS
A sign of change, of new directions. A new creative season is upon us.
QG
BLADE RUNNER
Men are going under the blade more often these days.
Is it about getting a close shave, or about the lost rituals of men?
We are in a time of high-speed technology and yet we also appear to be in a time where stepping off our media clogged technological freeways and into a world that savours tactile experience over packaged entertainment seems to be gaining traction.
A world where vinyl...
PAINT WASHES OFF
The paint washes off, but the creativity sticks.
A painting party for four year olds, lookout Jackson Pollock.
QG
September 2011
3 posts
CLEANING THE BEACH
On Friday, Molly and I attended our second annual field trip to clean up the beach, with Victoria Montessori.
I love that this school teaches 3 year olds where garbage comes from, and how it impacts our ecosystem.
QG
3 tags
ONE FRAME AT THE EDGE
One of the photographers that I most admired - and still do - when I first picked up a camera was William Albert Allard. He said several things about photography that have stuck with me for twenty years:
1. “I’d rather look at a blurry interesting picture then a sharp boring one.”
2. “You can’t make a snapshot at a 1/4 of a second.”
3. “My photographs...
Montreal Workshop: November 2011
August 2011
4 posts
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE
Well perhaps not entirely sleepless… but Seattle is a great place for a Leica Street Photography Workshop and there is always plenty to see and do. Friday evening I met up again with Tom Smith from Leica and we hatched our plans for the weekend over dinner and cocktails at a fantastic little bar in Post Alley.
As expected we had a wonderful group of Leica photographers, a packed summer...
SIMPLE PLEASURES
Morning light streaming through the window in the shower… images really are everywhere around us, if we are willing to see them.
QG
THE CALM AFTER THE STORM
After 10 wonderful, but long days of workshops a quiet evening walk with my daughter was a welcome calm after the storm.
QG
LEICA AKADEMIE KICK OFF
photo by Scott McAlpine
The first North American, multi-day Leica Akademie kicked off last night here in Victoria. Fourteen participants, three Leica reps, one feature photographer, and more M9s then you can shake a lens at… should be a fine weekend.
QG
July 2011
1 post
UNPOSED - with Craig Semetko / Quinton Gordon
Photo ©Quinton Gordon
Photographer, Craig Semetko walked through our doors at Lúz Gallery 10:30 Friday morning and forty some hours later, after going at full throttle, I can honestly say that this has been one hell of a great weekend.
Co-teaching a workshop can be a real challenge, but it was clear from the get go that Craig and I are on the same page. We share a very similar philosophy on...
June 2011
3 posts
A THOUSAND WORDS
From Mile Zero: A Place Uncertain
Sometimes we just have to let our images speak for us.
QG
ALL SQUARED UP
I love square.
Square format has always been my favourite format for portraits and it is the format I miss in the digital age.
I do still work with an old Rolleiflex and I love the negatives it yields but my main camera is the Leica M (film and digital) and over the past year I have discovered how truly wonderful the Leica M9 really is. If any camera could convince me that I could switch...
MILE ZERO: A PLACE UNCERTAIN
For me, there comes a point in any project where I am able to leave behind what it was I thought I was doing, the point when I started, and an understanding of the true nature of the work becomes clear to me.
This is precisely what keeps me interested in photography. It is the open spaces in my work that motivate me to keep searching.
Commercial projects are all about achieving a predetermined...
May 2011
4 posts
Photobook Workshop
This workshop is ideally suited to photographers interested in book publishing, either by self-publishing or by working publishers. Over the weekend we will edit and sequence your book, draft text, produce a book dummy, and prepare a layout using Blurbs, Book Smart software.
Workshop Details | Book Smart with Quinton GORDON
Saturday, 4 June + Sunday 5 June, 2011
9:00 am - 5:00 pm...
Ian's Coffee Stop
It has been a decade since I first saw this building, and it has been a decade of watching its beauty turn to dust.
This building is located midway between my home and my studio so I pass it almost daily and I have always had a dream of buying it and restoring it. Only two things prevent me from doing this. It’s not for sale. And if it were, I don’t have the money.
I pass by this...
3 tags
LO JO
Wandering around Lower Johnson Street tonight, I found myself peering into the windows of empty shops…
Leica M9 with 50mm Summicron
QG
LEICA AKADEMIE: VICTORIA BC
Join the Leica Akademie for an intensive and exciting weekend of learning with celebrated photographer and educator Quinton Gordon!
This is the first of five Leica Weekends set in destination cities around North America in 2011. With a limited class size and itineraries customized to each location, these intensive, fun-filled events feature two full days of hands-on learning with the acclaimed...
April 2011
4 posts
HURRY UP AND WAIT
Travel is about waiting… followed by bursts of activity or running to catch your plane because you were waiting at the wrong gate!
When I have long waits in airports I can never totally banish the thought that I am somehow in the wrong place. At least I have a nice view of the Coast Mountains.
QG
3 DOORS DOWN
Content after a wonderful dinner with friends, and a weekend photographing the streets of Portland. Ready to go home to see my family.
QG
SPICY BIRTHDAY CAKE
It’s not my birthday, but it is my “Molly Monday”.
Monday’s are my day off - when I actually get one - and that means I get to spend the full day with my 3 year old daughter, Molly. This morning she decided to make me a spicy birthday cake.
As a documentary photographer, I often turn my lens outward with the objective of telling the stories of “others”. But...
THE EXOTIC IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF US
Molly’s Butterfly
When I was young, and lacking in experience; I would take my portfolio into Margaret Williamson. For many years, Margaret was the Photo Editor at Canadian Geographic magazine and at the time I wanted to work for them. Unlike myself, Margaret had a lot of experience in the world of photography, and she possessed the kind of quiet wisdom that comes with experience and...
March 2011
1 post
The Authorship of Photographs
Not long ago I had the great pleasure of witnessing a photographer, whom I have been mentoring, give herself permission to value her own voice as an image maker. It was the permission she needed to silence the echos of doubt that haunted her. The doubt that stems from hearing others tell us what our photographs should be like, how they should be made.
Coming to the understanding that we are the...
February 2011
1 post
Weathering The Storm
This week was a little unusual.
A snow storm in Victoria, British Columbia is not all that common, even in winter, and when it snows, even just a foot or so, everything changes.
Personally I like the change. The streets get quieter. It takes longer to get places and as a result, fewer people go fewer places. The blanket of snow dulls sound and reflects light, modifying the physical world...
January 2011
1 post
Beating A Dead Horse
I have lost count of the number of conversations, web comments, and blog articles that beat the digital vs. film horse to death!
Maybe this is just another one?
Maybe not.
The last article I read outlined the economic benefits of purchasing a new Leica M9 over a used M7. The arguments were not flawed, at least not as they were presented.
The numbers all seem to support the argument that if...
December 2010
2 posts
Backwards To Go Forward
My journey of simplification is taking me back to film. Yes, I said film!
Don’t get me wrong, the Leica M9 is a stunning piece of machinery, and having learned to do my B&W conversions in Silver Effects Pro (a great piece of software) I can truly mimic the look of film… but not the feel!
Recently I have been updating my website and the more I worked with images that I have shot...
Reduce, Reduce, Reduce
The stripping away of complicated photographic tools continues as I sell off all but my beloved Leica cameras and the few prime Leica lenses. The deeper I go in to the basic transaction between myself, the subject and a simple camera the happier I am, and more importantly the more expressive my pictures become.
As a poor photo student I could never afford to own more then my Nikon FM2 and a...
November 2010
1 post
Streets of Portland
I just returned from working in Portland, Oregon where I was teaching a Street Photography workshop with my good friend, Joni Kabana.
Earl’s Barbershop on Alberta Street is the sort of place where men can meet, watch the game, tell a few tales, and be part of a community… and for a little while Earl graciously took me in and made me feel like I had walked through his door many times...
October 2010
0 posts
Simple
It was a bit of a leap of faith when I set out to work on this project about multiculturalism I made the clear decision to use only a Leica M9 rangefinder camera; a camera for which I only have two lenses, Summicron 35mm & 50mm.
The faith was not in the equipment; the quality of Leica cameras and lenses is indisputable, but in my own ability to rise to the challenge of making good, or even...
September 2010
9 posts
History Brought to Life
Today I interviewed Larry Ewashen, curator of the Doukhobor Discovery Centre in Castlegar. Larry is an articulate man well versed in the history of the Doukhobor’s and after 17 years he is retiring from his position at the end of October… so that he’ll have more time to work on other projects including a fascinating book on Doukhobor culture.
Old Dog - New Tricks
I learned photography in a traditional wet darkroom and to be honest I miss working in that environment… but old dogs need to learn new tricks. As I sit with the sun coming up, working in my VW Westfalia van, aka the Road Studio, I am learning to make good B&W images from the digital files produced on my Leica M9… I guess this is not such a bad work environment…...
Time Well Spent
I am fortunate in my work to spend time with some truly wonderful people, but every once in awhile I get to spend time with someone who has a profound influence on how I see the world. I spent a quiet afternoon with Gertrude “Gertie” Ned and she is one of those people who reminds me what is important in life - thank you Gertie.