Styling by LEILA BANI at THEY Representation
Makeup & Hair by SONIA LEAL-SERAFIM at THEY Representation using GIORGIO ARMANI cosmetics and TRESemmé HAIR CARE products
Nails by CHRISTINA CULVER at THEY Representation
Photography Assistant: PAULA POORTINGA
Styling assistants: Nicola Wright + Johana Zara
Makeup & hair assistant: Jasmine Merinsky

Thanks to Gina at THEY Representation and Olivia at Zink.

The always wonderful Michael V. Smith has his second novel “Progress” out in Spring 2011 with Cormorant Books in Toronto. Smith’s first novel, Cumberland (Cormorant Books, 2002), was nominated for the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award. His first book of poetry, What You Can’t Have (Signature Editions, 2006), was short-listed for the ReLit Prize. Most recently, he’s published a hybrid book of concrete poems/photographs, Body of Text (BookThug, 2008), created with yours truly.

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.

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.

I spent a great 30 minutes with Seacliff Construction’s CEO, Bill Crarer, for HR Reporter magazine in early December. We had spectacular natural light in his office space, and after a quick first set-up with strobes in the boardroom, we spent the rest of the time taking advantage of it. Mr. Crarer was a gracious host and it was a pleasure discussing our experiences in China, especially as I had returned from there so recently. Seacliff Construction is a dynamic company with recent accomplishments including the Richmond Oval for the 2010 Winter Olympics and some of the Skytrain Stations on the new Canada Line.

Well, that was quite the trip.

(Quick recap for those who have not read this Blog before: I had been invited to be an exhibiting guest artist at the 2009 Lishui International Photo Festival in Lishui, China. A bi-annual event in a city of 2.5 million in western China, the Festival runs from November 28th to December 3rd. It will be the first public exhibition of my new fine art series, Future Imperfect. 30 artists were invited from North America.)

And now on with the show…
After 26 hours of travel to the city of Lishui in China (about 6 hrs south of Shanghai) I finally arrived at the hotel just after 8pm, more than a little exhausted. I wanted nothing more than a long shower and a warm bed, but as soon as I put my bags down at the front desk the volunteers whisked me away to the Opening Ceremonies, which were already underway. I was expecting a conference room or something of that sort, so I was a little surprised to be ushered into a shiny new stadium where more than 10,000 people were in the stands watching the goings-on. Surreal after a trip like that. Television cameras, huge video screens, award presentations that seemed like they belonged on the Grammys…recipients rising up out of the stage to the top of a pyramid-like podium, hands raised in the air. Chinese generals, cultural dignitaries and a musical tribute with 100 dancers, singers and a lighting show that would put Vegas to shame. And all for a Photography Festival…hooray China!

Here’s the stage from where I was seated…

…and when I turned around (yes those bleachers are full!).

There were about 60 international guests at the hotel for the festival and the next morning we all got up early, had breakfast (Thousand Island dressing DOES look like yogurt) and were whisked off to Baiyan Forest Park, one of two main sites for the festival. A beautiful park at the edge of the city with a string of classical Chinese buildings which contained the galleries.

Entrance to the park’s festival site…

…and the view of some of the galleries.

Me with my work…

…and guests wandering through.

Following a morning wandering around the galleries we were taken for an official Welcome Luncheon Banquet and then back to the galleries to meet with curators and other experts from China. Lastly we headed to a converted oil factory to see the exhibits of the featured Chinese photographers. Beautiful work, including Lu Guang, the winner of this year’s W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant…a deserving honour for some moving work. A quote from the website about his work: “Lu Guang has been documenting the ecological disasters in China resulting from the rapid growth of the economy since 2005, focusing on environmental pollution and the problem of schistosomiasis. Over the last three decades, peoples’ living standards have constantly been on the rise in the country. At the same time, industrial pollution has brought serious consequences for public health and for the environment at large.”

The remaining days were filled with photography trips into the surrounding picturesque countryside, exploring the city of Lishui itself and connecting with the photographers and curators from China and North America. I’m going to list a few of my favorites from the festival below. There was so much beautiful work there but these caught my eye…

Joni Sternbach’s “Surfers” tintypes (you may recognize these from the recent October cover of PDN).

Chris Raeker’s “Midnight Carnival” series

Stephen Berkman’s ambrotypes, “Predicting the Past”

Mariette Pathy Allen’s “The Gender Frontier”

Mark Jaremko’s “Nightscapes”

Fellow Canadian Elaine Ling was there with her brand new book “Mongolia”

Wu Qi’s “The Heavy Dust”

There were MANY Chinese photographers with stellar work but it seems a lack of web support for them. Apologies, but there are no links for the following Chinese artists. You’ll have to hit the festival site)

Zhang Chao’s “Ugly”
No link available. See Lishui Festival site.

Fu Weixin’s “Run with the Dream”
No link available. See Lishui Festival site.

Su Jian’s “Mother of the Family”
No link available. See Lishui Festival site.

Well, that’s all for now. If you’re still with me, thanks for your interest. It was a great event.
Thanks again to Yan Li and the volunteers who were the ultimate hosts.
I’ll leave you with my “Photo of the Day” from Day 2…couldn’t resist.