Charles T. Low Photography

Blog #102

What a Photographer Does When Living a Life

The year 2025 has been busy, and wonderful, with one significant photography-gig — more on that below — formal photography otherwise on the back burner.

Not a problem: I have lived most of my adult life like that, sometimes so preoccupied that I didn't raise a viewfinder to my eye for months at a time, and now that I have more flexibility in my schedule, that has reduced to only days.

Kindly bear with me for a few minutes; I would like to show you how that has gone, recently.

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The following remains I think my artistic favourite of the year so far.

I made it pre-sunrise — not at such an early hour in January as in June — and I still favour that light over any other.

I almost forgot about another commission, because the following happened in 2024; I photographed a painting, at the request of the artist, Colleen O'Connell, to provide to a jigsaw-puzzle manufacturer (The Occurrence), and that was a lot of fun, went well, and Colleen pretty well sold out her first run very quickly.

Then, of course, I had to have a copy, although I generally don't do jig-saws, and then my SO asked me, one day (rhetorically), "Now what shall we do with our time?"

Because, like many jig-saw puzzles, this one was designed to torture you, which many people seem to enjoy.

Check out Colleen at several places, including Instagram.

Oh, and I love this: Colleen has taken some heat because the painting isn't geographically accurate. "That's intentional!" she exclaims. "I grouped things artistically, not literally! It's a piece of art! I can do what I want with it!"

Of course she can.

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And then — the second time I've told a similar story over the past two years — a beautiful woman called me up and asked me to go on vacation with her, last time to Venice, this time Scandinavia, to go skiing.

I of course declined. "You lead a busy life, darling, and you need the time with your own family."

"Dad!" she said, mostly hiding her exasperation. "I'm inviting you to come skiing with us in Norway!"

We all had the best time.

I posted the one above, explaining that I made some images at The Back Pond, off Centennial, and then in the digital darkroom they just weren't doing it for me.

So, I thought I would try something. This is an "extrude" filter. For those of you who feel that art should have rules, and that I shouldn't do this, please just move on to the next image. But know that I disagree.

Another day, below, snowy mountains blew in across the river, and later blew out again.

And then, above, family found me in the UK, early spring, and then friendship found me briefly in Gloucestershire.

We like an image, or don't, for very personal reasons, but I like that this scene couldn't be anywhere in North America.

And I waited and made a version of it without the lady, but this is the one I'm showing. She's just there, doing whatever she's doing, carrying some stuff, including a broken cardboard box.

A culture and village probably thousands of years older than anything we have here, and yet normal life goes on all around us.

I hope she had a good day.

And don't you just hate it when people post photos of their meals on social media? We all eat, every day, people! This, below, is breakfast at a Sheraton Hotel in Montréal.

And yes (above), the fun-car came out of winter storage late March.

Also (below), I have slowed down on these, but they still command my attention when I catch one trundling by.

And, finally, a formal assignment: Karen again honoured me by asking if would photograph, alongside the incomparable Bill Milward, Hafla! 2025, a raqs sharki-based dance show which she puts on every year.

It is technically impossible to photograph, which I approach as the pressure being off: no expectations of myself, I just release the shutter hundreds of times.

It was well-attended, about the most fun thing one could attend, and proceeds go to Victims Services and other charities.

Check out more photos and information on Facebook or Instagram.

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Life Flowing Around Photography

So, many of those things were just life, and I had a camera with me.

And I didn't just happen to have a camera with me — I ensured that I had a camera with me. But they weren't all primarily photographic activities.

And then these images emerged.

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I would love it if you were to subscribe to this blog, and to refer friends; art collectors may find this interesting.

You may wish to look through my larger portfolio. Almost everything is for sale. I favour large wall art, and also deal in books and other small items: prints, notecards, and postcards.

Check out my current Portraiture project. My next model is you. (Yes. I mean you).

Charles T. Low
Photographer
Blog #102
2025-05-18

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