Tanya Schmidtke

As any photographer will concede, the impression of an image is heavily dependant on the quality and quantity of light present. I enjoy "natural light" illumination first and foremost. As with any art though, many other factors come into play in the creation of a print. My main focus is the composition, and the significance of the image. Although composition is well understood in the arts, significance is entirely dependant upon the one viewing the image. I have found that the more universally appealing the subject(s), the more reaction can be felt. Although a complicated image can be visually stimulating, simplicity is often the most profound. I am often seeking this simplicity, which we overlook in our day to day lives. Although some of my work contains colour, I almost exclusively work in the black and white medium. The absence of colour, portrays the subject solely in its form and texture. The more apparent these are, the better. This also further enhances the simplification I value. Although most humans have the gift of seeing in colour, most of the animals we share our planet with, see in monochrome. Their world is so different in black and white. Sepia toning is something I have employed in many of my images. For a while, I produced most of my work with this effect. Some images lend themselves to sepia, while others to a more pronounced black and white. I have also hand painted some prints to create different effects. This was something my grandfather had done, a photographer all his life, when there was no other way of applying colour. All of my subjects have been "found objects", and I have not moved them into place. This is something of an adventure in most cases. I have not digitally manipulated any of the images you see. They simply go from the negative, onto photo paper. I am not closed to the digital world, which is changing photography as you read this. For now I am just enjoying the art, the moment. Photography is an exciting field, and change is inevitable. If there were ever two words that meant the same thing, "change" and "technology". The invention of the camera brought great change. The camera has continued to change, but the art and thoughts behind the lens largely remain the same.

Biography: It has been a winding path leading to this place. My grandfather was a photographer in Europe all of his life. He specialized in portraiture, and lived to be in his 90's. I was born in Canada, July 14, 1968. I grew up watching my father, a hobbyist, create fascinating prints in his makeshift darkroom. I picked up a camera on New Years Day 1987 at the age of eighteen and spent an entire day wandering through fields and forest taking photographs of images I still have today. I should have known from the joy of that day, I should pursue photography. But being a practical soul I discounted it and began college. In the mid-nineties I enjoyed a three year career as a computer and network consultant at a Toronto corporation. I started songwriting and composing music at this time, successfully publishing the fourth song I co-wrote to then, Warner Chappell Records. The artistic side was beginning to resurface. At this time I began to hone my photography skills. In the year 2000, after seeing prints of the "Simcoe Steam Train 136", "Citroen", and "Seeder in Grasses", all on the same roll of film, I made a decision. I would pursue a new career. A passing thought shelved years ago, had found its time. I have been showing and selling my photography ever since, and exhibit at galleries, art shows, and traveling exhibitions

Country: Canada

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Site: Black and White Journeys in Time