Photography Now
On December 11 and 12, 2003, video interviews were conducted with three artists on the subject of digital photography. Lynne Cohen and Edward Burtynsky offered their perspectives as major figures on the contemporary photographic scene. High school student Pascale Arpin added her voice as a young person passionate about photography. All were asked the same questions. Their responses position them as artists, and define this period in photography.
Edward Burtynsky
Lynn Cohen
Pascale Gagnon-Arpin
Edward Burtynsky
Biography:
Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky grew up in and around heavy industry in southern Ontario. He studied photography, and has photographed the industrial landscape since 1982. His subjects include mines, quarries, tailing ponds, recycling yards, oil fields, refineries, and dams. Together they illustrate the cycle of extraction, consumption and recycling that fascinates Burtynsky. Burtynsky's photographs are full-colour, large-scale, and exquisitely detailed. They are printed to exacting standards at Toronto Image Works, the training centre, darkroom rental facility, custom lab and digital imaging centre that he founded in 1985. Burtynsky lives in Toronto.
Questions:
General
What impact has the digital revolution in photography had on your work?
Past
Present
What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of digital photography?
Do you see a reluctance by fine art photographers to go digital, if so why?
Future
Will digital photography replace traditional photography?
Do you plan to use digital equipment and or printing in your work, and if so in what capacity?
Return to the topLynn Cohen
Biography:
Canadian artist Lynne Cohen began as a sculptor. She switched to photography in 1971. Since then she has photographed a wide variety of human interiors, including living rooms, classrooms, laboratories, and health spas. Cohen's photographs are unpopulated, forcing us to confront the spaces presented, and the materials and objects that define them. Her presentation blends humour with horror, leaving us to contemplate uneasily the kind of world we have made. Cohen has received national and international recognition for her work. She teaches photography at the University of Ottawa, and lives in Montreal.
Questions:
General
What impact has the digital revolution in photography had on your work?
Past
Present
What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of digital photography?
Do you see a reluctance by fine art photographers to go digital, if so why?
Future
Will digital photography replace traditional photography?
Do you plan to use digital equipment and or printing in your work, and if so in what capacity?
Return to the topPascale Gagnon-Arpin
Biography:
Born in Ottawa in 1987, Pascale Gagnon-Arpin is a student at the École secondaire publique De La Salle, where a unique visual arts concentration program has allowed her to develop a true passion for photography. Looking to the future, Pascale sees herself working in film or communications and spending her free time with her first loves: drawing and painting. Pascale sees the arts (not just the fine arts, but music, dance, singing, etc.) as forms of expression and therapy that play a very important, although often unrecognized, role in everyday life.
Questions:
General
What impact has the digital revolution in photography had on your work?
Past
Present
What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of digital photography?
Do you see a reluctance by fine art photographers to go digital, if so why?
Future
Will digital photography replace traditional photography?
Do you plan to use digital equipment and or printing in your work, and if so in what capacity?
Return to the top