Lakeside ice Print

In 1971, Bryan Harvey bought his first camera. With this he took photographs of Africa and the Middle East while working for a marine seismic exploration operation. His camera came with him on his arrival in Canada the following year. In the late eighties Bryan took a night course at Camosum College (now Vancouver Island University) in freelance photography. Ted Grant "the father of Canadian photojournalism" was one photographer who shared his knowledge and experience with those participating in the class. Following this Bryan exhibited and sold photographs in the Victoria area. In 2005 Bryan retired from his Victoria business to the "view" in Lake Cowichan. A riverside property on a wide section of the Cowichan River known as the "big pool", it became the subject of many photos by Bryan. In a time of the emergence of digital camera technology, when practically everyone could be a photographer, Bryan went retrograde. Taking a different flow, he took a large format film camera on a river raft , riding the Tatshenshini River down to the Alaskan coast. When Bryan researched large format photography,. what he found particularly helpful was looking at illustrated art history books, and how various artists used the play of light in there paintings, to Bryan this seemed a similar contemplative process and long completion timeline as large format photography. Given that there's such a thing as a ten thousand hour rule before becoming an expert in many endeavors, Bryan was relieved when he found his "sweet spot." For him this was the time, after much trial, error and disappointment, he found the right combination of film, developer and exposure times to provide consistently satisfactory results. This gave more time for the sometimes absentminded photographer to concentrate on the subject at hand. And to find his reading glasses. Bryan Harvey has exhibited peer reviewed large format photographs in the 1650 Gallery in Los Angeles, the online publication of Creative Quarterly magazine, the Waterfront Gallery in Ladysmith B.C. the Sooke Fine Arts Show and not least the Sidney Fine Arts Show.
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