Derik Bradshaw

I was born in Westmount, Quebec and was brought up in Chateauguay, Quebec until I turned 18, where I then moved to New York, New York. I then moved to Toronto, Canada and currently reside in Alberta, Canada.
I love so many various artists and photographers from the great classics to the modern day ones.
Da Vinci, Monet, Van Gogh and Michelangelo are my favorites from centuries past. Photographers include David LaChapelle, Michael Kenna, Annie Liebovitz, Ansel Adams and Anne Geddes just to name a few. The joy of finding new inspiring artists and photographers is always a thrill.
I draw my inspiration from all of them as well as from a need to connect, in order to heal, kind of perspective.

I am mostly a self-taught photographer with some seminars and classes taken throughout the years in New York, Quebec and Toronto. I also took some art classes in Quebec and Toronto for oil and water colour.
I was drawn to photography, more so than art because of the story telling aspect behind it. The way you can use black & white or colour to set your tones as artists do with paints. With technology changing, it makes photography that more enjoyable because with digital images now, they can be manipulated to produce fabulous effects. Way more than what could be produced in a dark room.
I have been practicing my photographic skills for the last 15 years now but kept my work mainly to myself. Selling nothing, showing nothing and just content seeing myself grow as a photographer. Working for ten years as an actor and model also helped me learn so much from the professionals on sets. I always made friends with the cameramen and photographers on set, learning what I could from each different one. So I feel very well rounded due to the many I have worked with.
The only exhibition I was a part of, was as a model for Claude Gauthier in Montreal, Quebec. His exhibition was called Face, Body and Soul and travelled to be displayed in Hong...