About Ariel

“I think of a camera as always looking both ways. It’s revealing both the subject matter and the person who’s making the picture.”

Freeman Patterson

Photography is a reflection of self. It tells a story of who you are, and where you are at a particular stage in life. For me, this realization began when I bought my first camera. For over a year, it contained the same roll of film with a scattered selection of pictures that chronicled events. Then I discovered the difference between taking photographs and making photographs.

I was already an artist – a graphic designer with an established design studio in Toronto. And I was eager to translate my design skills to the art of photography. My inspiration came from two great North American photographers, the late Galen Rowell, outdoor adventurer, photo artist and writer; and Canada’s renowned landscape photographer and writer, Freeman Patterson. I soon traveled to New Brunswick to learn from Freeman. I went not just seeking his wisdom but asking for his honest critique. I had to know how to take great photographs!

My first breakthrough came late one afternoon on a Maritime hillside. I found myself awed by the beauty of the composition in front of me – spring trees breaking into blossom, surrounded by those almost unnatural pale green leaves. The inspiration was immediate, the elements were there in front of me, but the photograph was not there – yet. Over then next hour I worked on the composition, not wanting to give up, trying to get the flow of the branches, the direction of the light, to work together. When I finally sensed the composition was right, I made the photograph. The lesson I learned that afternoon will stay with me forever.

Photography for me is about awe in our world brought to us through nature. Finding the right image captures that moment and translates it back to the real experience in an emotional, stirring manner.

My experience on that hillside taught me that photography is a very deliberate artform. It doesn’t just happen. It means taking the time to think, to observe, to make sense of the scene in front of me. My training and work as a graphic designer certainly is part of how I view what I see through the lens. Elements need to work together, the light, the colour, and shapes, all contain design principles.

I know that my commitment to my work as a photographer will take me to far off places. And my photographs would continue to give others a window into where I am, and what stage of life has brought me to the lens at this particular moment.