About me

After a friend introduced me to the idea of taking up photography, I decided to attempt a “365-day challenge” to take a different self-portrait a day for a year.

Using only my Nikon D50 camera, a desk lamp and a remote, I was forced to look at innovative ways to represent myself.

The obsessive nature of the year-long challenge encouraged me to take up other works in series, such as the A to Z Challenge, which requires a photograph of an interpretation or representation of each letter of the alphabet. Another challenge, the Divine Diptych Project, pairs photographers that are members of a group on Flickr called "The Divine Sisterhood" and requires us to match themes of individual photographs. Meanwhile, I learned to relax behind (and in front of) the shutter, and also not to obsess about technique.

While educating myself about my camera I also have been learning about different photographers. In the process I have found inspiration from photographers that I have grown to admire – such as the unselfconsciously revealing self-portraiture of Cindy Sherman and the stylized black-and-white fashion photography of Helmut Newton.

My work has been exhibited on both virtual and gallery walls, such as on my own Flickr Photostream and a 2010 showing of my self-portraits at Ottawa’s Venus Envy boutique. I have contributed several photo essays to the Apartment 613 blog, as well as a photo essay on Ottawa’s Hintonburg neighbourhood for the 2010 Jane’s Walk. My photography has been described as reflecting considerable mastery of technique, despite the fact that I have not been formally trained.

For the future, I am continuing to seek more opportunities to refine my craft. In the interim, not that I am not busy enough, I am completing a degree in philosophy at Carleton University, under the supervision of my cat, Diva.