Cavendish, Prince Edward Island We fear missing out, so we read it all, and listen to every voice we can, seldom aware that by doing so we’re missing so much more. This is not the post you think it might be. This is not about reducing the noise in your low-light, high-ISO, photographs. There’s software for that. This is about …
Finding Your Mojo
A friend and I, looking for our mojo on Prince Edward Island yesterday. Sometimes we find it, sometimes we don’t, but the search is our job. Last week I spent some time on Facebook answering questions. It was a lot of fun, and something I’d like to do more often. One question that came up a couple times in different …
Waiting, in Newfoundland.
I get nervous when things come too easily, which, as it turns out, is not remotely the case on this trip. Sadly, I also get nervous when things are tough and there are no guarantees that my work is going anywhere. That’s the tension I’ve been living in on this trip across Canada, now into its 6th week. I’ve been …
Process & Product
We’re stopping in Ottawa right now, after a couple days at the cottage, on the way to Labrador and Newfoundland to work on making images for my next coffee-table book. Emily, the Jeep, is in for service and tweaks, after 5500km and in preparation for many more on the rougher roads of rural Quebec and Labrador. What a journey we’re …
A Beautiful Way to Tell Stories
The first thing I noticed about Maptia was the manifesto, one I can buy into with my whole heart. I, David duChemin, want to see the world. Follow a map to its edges, and keep going. Forgo the plans. Trust my instincts. Let curiosity be my guide. I want to change hemispheres & sleep with unfamiliar stars and let the …
Know Your Rhythm
Every person I know—whether they identify as creative or not—goes through ups and downs, though I think the self-identifying creative or artist can feel it more acutely, as though our creative life rides on top of the water and rises and falls with the waves. We experience brilliant highs and depressing lows. When the wind kicks up and the ocean …
Whisky Shots
A personal project. A glass of whisky. With ice. Natural light. Minimal post-processing. Shoot what you love. Be willing to play and see things anew. There are constellations and worlds in the tiniest places if we’re willing to see them. Also helps if you don’t drink too much of the subject.
The Art of Exclusion
If life is short, then it follows that there is more to do in our brief, beautiful days than we could ever accomplish. It is said that photography is the art of exclusion. What the photographer leaves out of the frame is as important as what he leaves in. Within the frame of the photograph every element pulls the eye, …
The Artist’s Journey
One of the great revelations of my life came when I discovered Joseph Campbell and his book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces. I read it while studying films and screenplays and trying to understand what makes a great story. And I read it while divorcing for the first time and not sure I was going to survive the trauma …
A Beautiful Anarchy
Colour outside the lines and make the best art of your life! To my core I believe that our lives can be lived boldly, intentionally, and as our truest work of art. I believe we are all capable of living extraordinary lives; that people like Gandhi, Picasso, or Mother Teresa, were ordinary people who chose to be fully themselves …