My photography like my life, has been a path of growth and change. As with most people, photography existed originally as a form of personal documentation or the “I was here” school of photography. The first step in my enlightenment was through a friend who was a renaissance man ;a musician, painter and photographer. When I saw his slides which had such things as -composition- I was grabbed by the expressive possibilities of the medium. I immediately ran out and purchased a 35mm camera and set off to conquer the world.
Much of my early photography was still a form of documentation of the hikes I took in the mountains. After a couple of years, I discovered the medium of black and white through the work of Ansel Adams and joined the cadres of disciples looking for their “Moonrise over Hernandez”. For a number of years I toiled on the path of Saint Ansel in improving my technical skills and increasing the size of my cameras.
Ironically, it was not landscape that formed my first major exhibition, but abstractions of landscape and man-made structures called Facades. This freed me to take skills I had developed and apply them to a variety of themes. I earn my living as an architectural representative and architecture is important to me personally. This led to my next project, Sandstones, where I documented the remaining legacy of the remaining sandstone buildings in Calgary. I find each project challenges me both technically and aesthetically and this project is no exception. I found the most profound representation of these structures was in the the archaic process of platinum/palladium printing. This I learned essentially on my own with the exception of a demonstration of the process one evening by a good friend.( Interestingly, the image in this exhibition is the first image I printed.)
And now for something completely different, my next project was portraiture, an area in which I had little experience. Worthy Of Their Hire focuses on the working craftsman, a sector of the work force that has all but disappeared. This was accomplished with a medium format camera, available light and traditional silver paper. This work premiered in the fall of 1999 in Grande Prairie at the Prairie Gallery where examples of work of these craftsmen was on display along side the images.
Remnants, was my next major series, looking at the industrial architecture of the early twentieth century. To give the work a nineteenth century look the images are large platinum/palladium prints. I have been successful in obtaining a number of public showings both in group and solo shows. The most recent at the Royal Alberta Museum.
I have a number of current projects I am engaged in. There is The Road To Shangri-La – In The Footsteps of Joseph Rock which is a result of my travels in China and Tibet from my quirky point of view. Fragments, an architectural series looking at the modern city environment from an abstract point of view. In recent years, I have returned to landscape as I finally feel I have something individual to say about the landscape I live in, both the prairies and the mountains. Intimate Landscapes, is one manisfestation of this pursuit. There are other series in the works which also involve the land and man’s involvement in that environment.
Ray Van Nes
Questions, comments and pricing inquiries always welcome.
Contact Information
E-mail: rvannes@telus.net
Phone: 403.274.4258