The Curtain Rises..

For the last few months I have been working on a very exciting project that allowed me to marry my love of photography, with a relatively unchartered area for me, theatre. I was asked by a friend who owns a theatre company (www.theatresymbiosis.com) to join them and help collaborate on a play they wanted to present for the Toronto Fringe Festival. It was going to be on photography, and that's all they had established. I was excited about this opportunity, and thought "why not?"

So over the next few months, we auditioned actors, brainstormed, looked at photos, made storyboards, wrote and then re-wrote scripts, figured out props, learned basic photography skills and terminology, chose our promotional material, posted on facebook, tweeted, blogged, and of course rehearsed, and rehearsed.

Last night the curtain rose on the first of seven performances. Our play is called "Exposure". In the 45 minute performance we explore how photography can impact the relationships of four characters, and how those same relationships can affect the art itself. The play takes place in two different periods of time, the 1940's-50's and present day. It moves forwards and backwards and offers thoughts, perspectives, and even a little bit of history all pertaining to photographs, the camera used to capture them, and the person behind and in front of the lens.

It has been an exciting, and rewarding journey and one I am glad I embarked on. Thanks Daniella for asking me to come aboard!!

Here are some photographs that were used or taken during the months leading up to the performance. Enjoy!

Seeing Red..

If you have been reading my entries most of you know that I have not been able to get out and spend much time with my camera of late. I have found myself working 6 days a week between two jobs, and have been collaborating with a couple of friends on a production about photography for this summers Fringe Festival. Not that I am complaining, I can certainly use the money to move forward with photography, and the theater project has been extremely exciting for me. I can't wait to see the results of incorporating photography into an original play.

On Easter weekend, I did find a whole hour of spare time, and so grabbed my camera (which still needs to have the sensor cleaned!) and ran over to Allen Gardens to do some more abstract colour shots. It may have been a quick shoot, but I was happy with most of the results.

This is the first one I will share with you....Hope you like it!