ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Who am I?

I’m a photographer and writer with a passion for sailing.

I grew up in the tiny community of Pine Grove, in the Ontario countryside. Those years had a profound effect on my love for the natural world and my photographic perspective. As a young adult, I started to take photographs with the equipment available to me, at first 35mm film, later point-and-shoot cameras.

The most significant step in my development, however, was a complete surprise. In 2012, my adult son decided to upgrade from the excellent digital camera he owned, to one that was even better. He said he’d been so impressed with the quality of my point-and-shoot images that he wanted me to have his “old” camera.

For the first time, I had serious control over my photographs, and the pixel quality was outstanding. Since then, I have upgraded camera bodies and lenses, but I remain grateful for that initial gift, which transformed my photographic journey.

Photographic process

As the work evolved, my orientation became essentially compositional. Yes, I’m interested in technique in the field, but my greatest concern is, what will draw someone’s eye to this photograph and keep it there? How can I translate what I’m seeing into a compelling image? How can I frame it so it will speak to the viewer?

How can I create a photograph that intrigues viewers, that seduces them into looking more deeply into life, their surroundings, themselves?

While the actual photography process is extensive and exciting – snap, snap, snap, lots of pictures, no, wait, look at it from over there, snap again – the editing is intensive and immersive. I want to share maybe one picture in a thousand, and that special image deserves the ultimate in time and attention.

So I get very technical, adjusting color balance, managing highlights and shadows, sharpening, cropping. Often, I’m lost in a single image, forgetting to eat, trying just one more thing that will make this image stand out.

Photographic narrative

Along the way, I’ve discovered how story-telling boosts the impact of photography. I began to write narratives that set my pictures in context.

I was only 13 years old when I discovered my calling as a journalist, writing for the local Woodbridge News ("Tow Truck Pulls Oil Tanker From Ditch" was my first story). Since then I’ve written – with great delight – for television, newspapers, and magazines, along with books.

But nowadays, I get the greatest satisfaction from enriching my images with a few well-chosen words.

New perspectives

Two decades ago, Esther and I learned to sail. To this day, we’re awestruck that our boat Second Wind can be propelled solely by the movement of air, while we enjoy the gentle sound of water rippling against the hull. Second Wind has served as my camera platform in many astonishing and photogenic locations.

Then, in 2017, I discovered the dramatic potential of photography by drone. In the past, flying paragliders and paramotors, I found the view from the air profoundly inspiring.

Now, flying an aerial camera has again transformed my work, allowing me to capture patterns and perspectives which were once unimaginable.

I’m delighted to send my camera aloft, keeping my feet firmly, safely, planted here below. I’ve also learned to fly a drone from the boat, combining platforms, as you can see in the Blog and the video aerial Tour.

My goals

Why all this?

Partly, I’m just curious.

It gives me joy to discover, to capture, and to share the sublime, astonishing reality that surrounds us. I want to publish images that no one else may have seen, ever.

I hope to encourage viewers to stop for a moment, look more deeply into our world, develop a greater consciousness of its riches, its diversity. See the things they might otherwise have missed, hidden beauty, evanescent patterns, ironic contradictions.

Many of the subjects I’ve chosen to photograph attest to the beauty of our fragile planet. Some reveal the wounds we have inflicted. It’s pretty clear to me that if we continue to show disdain for our mother Earth, she will retaliate for our exploitation with heat, drought, fire, storms, and floods even more intense than the disasters we have recently experienced.

My greatest goal is to inspire each of us to love, to respect, and to safeguard our glorious environment. To honor and cherish mother Earth. To help protect everyone who will suffer from worsening climate change.

If you’d like a comprehensive view of my photographic work, please visit the Galleries. I hope you’ll think about hanging my photographs on your walls. And I trust that these images will arouse you, surprise you, warm you, and at the same time offer a little inner peace.

Timothy Bentley