Last night was the opening shin-dig for my Behind the Vines photo exhibition at The Old Firehouse Wine Bar in Duncan. It was a big night for me for a number of reasons. This was the first exhibition that I have been asked to do. Thank you Jeff Downey (owner of The Old Firehouse Wine Bar) for believing in me to such a degree to ask that I put together a collection of vineyard photos in my style. Not your normal grapes on the vines stereotypical vineyard collection. This collection is about the people who make the wines in the Cowichan Valley. Not many of us get to see who these people are but we know htey produce some great wines. My angle is people. I love taking photos of people. So that is why this is a portrait collection of the wine makers. I guess that makes sense.
Another big difference for this collection is that it is my first ever focused collection based on a theme. My previous exhibitions have been a mix of my favorite photos from past assignments. This collection was all self-produced on my time within a very short time window of just over one week. I had to leave it all to the last mintue for a couple reasons. First, the vines were dormant until just a few weeks ago. Dormant vines look dead which is not very interesting. So I wanted to wait for some signs of life. Secondly, this was my second start on the project because I had started it a couple months ago when everything was dormant and I didn't like the look. I didn't like the look for another reason which is actually more important - the first photos weren't portraits. They were more behind the scene shots of wine rooms and machinery. I saw where this was going and I wasn't happy. Thanks to my lovely wife and Clemens Rettich for your support in pushing me to follow my heart and start again in my own style. I really needed that!
This was my first collection of all black and white photos. No, I'm not going to shoot all black and white like Richard Avedon but I do like how it really makes you look at the person rather than being distracted by colour elements. There is a certain time-less quality to black and white as well.
The shin-dig, opening party was new to me as well. I have never had a formal event like this before. People came out to see my work. I toured them around, explaining each photo and the process. I loved it. I had people comment on how they really enjoyed hearing the behind the scenes information to each photo. It was just great to have such an interested, captive audience!
So please enjoy the photos. They will be on display (and for sale) at The Old Firehouse Wine Bar until the end of July, roughly.
And here's a little info on the photos:
top photo
Joe, Divino Vineyards
He is a very nice guy. The first time I went to do photos with Joe the weather was just boring. I came away with photos that I was not too excited about. The next day, his wife Barb called and spoke to my wife. I had to go back and pick up a bottle of wine that Joe wanted me to have. Given another opportunity to see Joe was just what I needed. The clouds in the sky were brighter and so I packed my camera and gear and was off. When I got to Joe's farm, I saw he was in the field on his tractor, plowing between the rows. He came over and I asked if I could grab a couple more photos and he was quite happy to oblige. I was so glad I did these re-takes as he was wearing a nice hat and was just dressed more the way I envisioned him. And I came away with a great bottle of desert wine from Joe's favorite vintage of 1994.
I did this shot on a very busy day - Five photo shoots in the afternoon. Mixed up weather. People who didn't want to be in the photo... Jeff is patners with some ex-NHL fold who have had enough photos taken so I snuck this one in with one of them on the tractor in the background. Ooops.
On this farm, the dogs rule the roost. After maybe 10 mintues the dogs settled down nicely and I grabbed this shot. Nice, casual scene on the lawn. I love the German Sheppard's indifference to me!
I posted a couple weeks back about my great experience with Dave. What more can I say?
Another photo from my 5-shoot afternoon. The highway was directly in the background in this shot so I did my best to use Mark and Linda to screen it from view. The vines here start up high (head level), then grow down, which is different and gave the foliage a shared starring role in this photo.
Ryder, Averill Creek Vineyards
This shot was taken on a crazy day. Just 30 minutes before I took this photo, I was at Alderlea Vineyards (photo below) and the weather was ok. Grey but ok. I got up to Averill Creek and the skys had opened up into a monsoon. I asked Ryder to grab a rain coat because we were about to get wet. While he went to get his coat, I set up the lighting and bagged it all to protect it from the rain. I was even holding an umbrella to stay dry. Ryder ened up with a halo effect which I really like as a result of the light from the flashes bouncing of him and back into the pouring rain. You couldn't do that again if you tried!
This couple really reminded me of family I have back in Saskatchewan, farm folk. I love it. The shirt and hat Roger is wearing add to this as does his big, working man's hand on Nancy's shoulder.
Another rainy morning in the Cowichan Valley. The field was just clear enough of mist to make out the tractor working off in the distance. The other characteristic of this vineyard is the high-voltage power line that runs across the property. Maybe this one should be part of a "Cowichan Gothic" series? Thanks to Clemens for planing that seed in my head...
Dave, Damali Farm
Better known for their lavender, Damali Farm is now producing wine. I wanted to capture both the lavendar and the grape wines to show the diversity of this farm. This shot was actually taken as a test when I was setting up the lights. Dave was looking off to see if his wife was on her way. His wife later joined in as did their business partner and another dog. Suddenly the shot was getting very busy and it just didn't look right to me. This is the one I like.
Xavier, Cherry Point Vineyards
When I met up with Xavier, I asked him what photos he'd done before and I told him I was going to do the opposite. He was happy to hear that. Take your hat off and don't smile at the camera. It worked. Plus, I was the first outsider in his barrel room. Oak barrels that he is quite proud of as they are very expensive and come from France. We later did some photos outside, in the wind and I sustained some equipment damage. This led to me making a great modification to my lighting the next day so it all works out. I like the photos in the wind and you can see one of them on my website.
This was one of those hidden farms that you cannot see until you get up into the property. It has a nice southern slope (I guess all vineyards do) that made for a good view. To make this photo rare for this collection - it was primarly sunny... Giordano was hesitant to have the photo taken because he was on his old tractor. He wanted to go to the barn and grab his new one. I told him the old one had character and it was perfect for the photo. He then relaxed. On my way out I saw the new tractor in the barn. It was beautiful. But too nice and shiny.
Hans has a beautifully kept property. Very clean and orderly. When he came out he asked why I wanted a photo of him. I explained and he was ok with it. He is German and is very straight forward and to the point. I can appreciate that. I am part German too... I framed the shot to express this. After a few photos I told him I was done. He was surprised and asked "That is it?". He was just getting into it and he had relaxed. I had earned his trust. I thought maybe I had taken too harsh of a photo but then I saw the warmth in his face. It all balances out.
So that is it. Tell me what you think!
