Photo Kibitz | Chatting About Photography, Photographers And Their Images

Early on Harry Nowell realized following his family into big business wasn’t for him. Instead he chose shooting anything that slid, moved, and rolled for stock photo agencies. Stock photography was lucrative enough for Harry, but as technology changed the way we shoot, it also changed his business model. We chatted about how he has adapted his photography business and why it is very important to pay attention to both the photography side and the business side to be successful. Today, Harry Nowell shoots assignments and is working on a fine art photography project. As a business man, he also owns and operates a gallery, a studio (which is available for rent), and teaches workshops in his studio space as well as various classes outside on-location and he offers unique on-line programs for people that find it hard to find the time for a scheduled class, but still have the urge to learn.

Look up, look way up - Aerial Photographer Louis Helbig Some photographers wish they could shoot from a higher vantage point. Aerial photographer Louis Helbig does. 1000 feet higher - from the cockpit of his airplane.  To some operating the controls of a camera and composing an image could be challenging enough. Not for Louis, we chat about how he manages to juggle the photography side and the flying side of his work. Photography was not Louis’ first calling. He was a competitive athlete and his education would have meant a promising career in foreign service with the government and we discuss what led to his decision to change course and become a fine art photographer.  Louis is passionate about his work and he is equally passionate about using his work as a starting point for an open dialogue.

Ari Tapiero is a self taught photographer who was fortunate enough to have two great mentors guide him early on. They showed him that hard work and perseverance were key to a successful career in this business. Portraits and architecture are two of his favourite subjects. Ari’s current personal project is documentary photography, where he combines both portraits and architecture to tell the story of The Last Jews of Miskolc. We chatted about how he evolved from an education in religion and political science to shooting portraits in Paris of Hollywood stars like Sylvester Stallone, Glenn Close, Ryan Gosling, and yes, Kevin Bacon. Through out his career, Ari has constantly learned lessons and evolved to become his own voice and work on his own projects. Since Ari and I recorded this interview his involvement in photography has evolved again. He has added product distribution to his bag of tricks and is now the Canadian distributor of FLM, a German tripod and ball head manufacturer.

Jake Morrison has been taking pictures most of his life. Like many photographers, He is often called upon to shoot different types of events; however, landscapes large and small are what really interests him.  The body of Jake's work includes large panoramic vistas of the Yukon and collages of flowers shot in his studio. At first glance the styles look like they were taken by two different photographers, but there is a unifying connection between them, which he explains in the podcast. A natural explorer, Jake’s investigations have included taking classes at the University of Ottawa, the Ottawa School of Art, and the School of photographic Arts (SPAO), he also spends time reading, studying the works of others, like painter/photographer David Hockney, and experimenting with subjects that fascinates him. Since 2006, Jake has been exhibiting his work in solo and group shows primarily in Ottawa and in Toronto.  Jake's passion for photography takes him beyond his own work. He a founding member of FAP:O - Fine

I would like to say Leslie Hanti's photographic work is serendipitous, but that would imply his work comes by chance or luck. While there is alway an element of luck and chance, it is also Leslie's vision, determination and persistence which allows him to capture his images. As you will hear, Leslie can spend hours, days, weeks and years waiting for all of the elements in an image to come together. Leslie's card reads "Stop-by-Stop Images", because he is almost always with camera in-hand and ready to record the world as he sees it.  Like an onion, you have to peel back the many layers to get to know Leslie Hanti. Over the last few years and I think I've only seen a small fraction of his work. Hopefully soon we will all have an opportunity to see more of his work.