DAVID ELLINGSEN PHOTOGRAPHY

Jordan Smith has been in the news again recently and I was very pleased to have a portrait I took illustrate the article…I consider his story a landmark case for human rights in Canada.

“2010 has already proven to be a significant year for Vancouver in the fight against homophobic violence.  On April 30th, BC Supreme Court Justice Joel Groves agreed with Crown counsel to declare a hate crime verdict in the case of Jordan Smith against his attacker Michael Kandola, one of two high profile assault cases involving anti-gay slurs at trial this year. The second case, which also occurred in Vancouver’s gay neighbourhood, involves the brutal attack that left 63 year old Ritchie Dowrey in a coma and with severe brain damage.  It is set to go to trial on July 21st in Vancouver provincial court. Witnesses say they heard the accused, Shawn Woodward, say, “He’s a faggot.  He deserved it.”
“If this crime is not punished accordingly, we all lose something,” said Dowrey’s friend Lindsay Wincherauk.”

- Nelson Wong, LOV Magazine, July/August 2010 issue.

You can read the full story here on page 12 + 13 of the current issue.

Issue 19 of New York’s  Creative Quarterly magazine is out now!
I was honoured to be awarded a winner in Professional Photography for some of the work from the Future Imperfect series.

Had a great time on this shoot…Lisa was certainly the right choice…

“Come celebrate the spirit of the 2010 Winter Games at the Power Smart Village, a family-friendly exploration of sustainability, BC Hydro history and more. Create an inspirational message on the digital expression wall, tour our “future is now” home exhibit, or cheer on our athletes while you watch competitors live on a big screen. You can even create electricity by dancing on our sustainable dance floor. It’ll be great fun, and by sharing your energy, you may even win tickets to the Games.”

My agent Gina of THEY Representation Inc. is opening a brand new, beautiful studio here in Vancouver. Sugar Studios is comprised of two separate spaces, one being the best daylight studio I’ve seen in town, and will be available in February. Congratulations on the imminent opening.

My work is featured in the Photo District News’ Photoserve lightbox sent out this week to almost 15,000 Creatives. Quoting PDN sales rep Jeanne Brei, “Our editors featured images from photographers who “capture action and adventure with a nod to the upcoming Winter Olympics” this month.” It’s nice to be included in this dynamic group…much appreciated.

Men’s Journal requested a portrait of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson to illustrate an article about the city and the 2010 Winter Olympics. I had photographed Mayor Robertson previously, during his election campaign, where he arrived to the shoot by himself, in a sharp suit and commuting on his bicycle…he had my vote right then.

Recently photographed local rock climber Joel Lafortune out at Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver. One of my favorite locations in the area with a dramatic rock face straight down to the ocean…and happily just enough space to balance a light stand. Assistant Marc not only got to help out moving gear but, as the photograph above shows, was literally at the end of his rope helping Joel to stay safe under less than perfect conditions.

Woodstock Times Review

From the Woodstock Times.
By Paul Smart.
12/17/2009

ORGANIC IMPERFECTIONS
With all the speed of our being swallowed by the current digital age, it’s easy to forget much of what’s being lost these days.
Galerie BMG’s current exhibition through January 11, “Hibernus…a winter study” by Canadian photographer, David Ellingsen, utilizes what was once one of the prime materials for certain specialized visual artists…Polaroid film.
Stuff’s gone now, like the warmth of recordings released on vinyl, or 16mm film screenings with the projector rattling and the dust motes dancing in a stream of near liquid narrative light. Like Brownie snapshots or hand-written letters, for that matter. Remember aerograms?
For the current show’s series of richly textured and mystery-evoking floral works, Ellingsen has collected natural plants during the final stages of their being and then used an archaic Polaroid 55PN film, as fine-grained, textured and rich with organic imperfections as the collection it’s being used to capture, to make it lasting art.
Talk about two eras ending, and an artist’s use of his tools, his means, to comment on his subject matter, the end. Or vice-versa.
The resulting photographs, created in-studio and hand-processed in the darkroom, are solarized during the development process and printed to archival, museum exhibition standards.
The results speak to what the artist has referred to as his lifelong ambition to find a way of combining the elements inherent in his boyhood on a communal island north in British Columbia, where he learned to appreciate the juxtaposition of seemingly oddly matched elements, from water and ice and nature versus technology to the rural and urban he now sees coming together in his adopted city. Or these lively new floral works about the natural process of death and decay.
The Vancouver-based photographer has augmented a strong career in commercial and editorial work with a burgeoning fine art career that has seen his works appear in numerous solo and group museum and gallery exhibitions, and win awards and prizes from a variety of organizations including the International Photography Awards in Los Angeles, Black & White Magazine in San Francisco, PX3 in Paris and Applied Arts in Toronto.

Hibernus….a winter study will be on display through January 11, 2010. Winter gallery hours at 12 Tannery Brook Road are Friday noon-5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday noon-5 p.m. or other times by appointment. For more information, call 679-0027 or visit www.galeriebmg.com.

Amazing assistant Rob shows us how it's done

Had a great shoot mid-December with DDB for BC Hydro…results posted soon.

During the 2010 Games, BC Hydro will be opening the doors to the BC Hydro Powersmart Village, celebrating the Games in a spirit of conservation and sustainability.

Art Director Daryl Gardiner, Account Supervisor Terra Cochrane and Print Producer Amanda Dring came to the new studio on 7th Ave West for the shoot. Model Lisa C. from Liz Bell Agency supplied enough energy to keep BC Hydro in business for the rest of the winter…jump, jump, jump! Hooray for those little trampolines.

Thanks also to stylist Leila Bani and makeup artist Sonia Leal Serafim from THEY Representation.

See more about energetic assistant Rob Seebacher here.

In Zhejiang province, near Xiandu, the river inundates the banks during the rainy season, swamping the trees along along the edge. When the river recedes, hundreds of plastic bags are tangled within the branches, waiting for the next rise to wash them away and replace them with another collection. I found this melancholy scene strangely moving, almost like a graveyard.
This scene will soon be a thing of the past. Recently, China’s State Council put a nationwide ban on plastic bags. The cabinet has demanded all stores (from major supermarkets to small shops) go plastic bag-free after June 1. According to the Daily Mail, China uses more plastic bags than any other country using 37 million barrels of crude oil on plastic bag production every year. Let’s hope that others will follow China’s lead in the near future.