Sometimes Happy, Sometimes Sad, Always Real: Interview with local photographer Angela Auclair

Apr 9, 2010 by Nelly

A little over a year ago, I came across the Flickr photo-stream of Angela (aka jhscrapmom) while perusing the Ottawa photographers’ group. It started with a couple of cute photographs from her daily photo project documenting her new born, Baby A, and ended with some captivating images that reflected her daily life. After a few comments back and forth and a multitude of hours spent over her many many many photo sets, I decided to add Angela to my regular set of contacts and follow her work closely – lest I miss one of her gems.

I introduced Natasha to Angela’s stream and we collectively decided that she should be our first ever interviewee on ShopHaven’s “Support Local” section that showcases Ottawa (and area) talents as well as businesses.

We’re very happy to post the interview with Angela here, and hope you enjoy her photographic work and fun personality as much as we did when conversing with her.

Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a 40 year old mom of three kids ages 14, 10 and 18 months. I have been home with my kids forever and live in a teeny tiny town in Eastern Ontario. I miss the big city (for me, Montreal) but take frequent restorative trips to my dock in the warmer weather. I try to travel when I can – Europe last summer was wonderful, and you will rarely find me without some sort of camera attached to me, or stuffed precariously into the diaper bag.

When did you start taking photographs?
I have loved photos since I was a child. I started taking pictures seriously, the first time, after my dad died when I was 16. I was just about to start the Creative Arts Program at Cegep and I inherited his Minolta XD-11. I became the Photo Editor of the Champlain Bugle and pretty well lived in the darkroom for two years. I got away from photography a bit after that (real life and all ) but returned to it again after the birth of my first son. By this time, times were changing and I made the switch to digital. Shortly after that, a friend introduced me to the world of photoblogs and Flickr and my interest just exploded. I have expanded my camera collection to include a 40D, too many lenses and a collection of toy cameras I just adore.

Are you or were you ever a commercial photographer?
Nope. I rarely get paid for anything! I think about it regularly; it would be lovely to actually make this passion profitable but i think inherently I am a selfish photographer and would have a hard time with the demands of a business.

Through your Flickr sets, we see that you enjoy participating in and creating projects around a certain theme or group, for example “Bench Monday” or “June for Jumping”. How do you come up with theses projects and why do you choose to participate in these specific subject-oriented groups?
I have a ridiculously fertile imagination and surround myself with an environment that is rife with creativity (and usually a sense of humour). Many of the projects – like “June for Jumping” are created by contacts of mine. There are groups on Flickr dedicated to daily challenges, usually for those people in the throes of a 365 project, and weekly “days” – like “Bench Monday”, “Bokeh Wednesday” and “Thursday Walk”, all of which are available for photographers looking to keep their creative juices challenged and fresh. Keeping up with the groups is sometimes harder than finding one.

How do you select the photos that make it into your daily submission to Flickr?
This is easy. The shot needs to feel real and be a fair portrayal of how I am experiencing my little life at that given moment. Sometimes happy, sometimes sad…but always real.

The angles in which some of your photographs are shot seem quite interesting, if not downright impossible when considering how difficult it is to stop a small energetic child for a moment before pressing the shutter. How do you manage to keep Baby A still to capture a photograph at some of these angles? The angles I shoot are dictated by having a small child. If you go back to my older work, you can see the transition into this. It is a definite response to where I spend most of my life. Many, many of my shots are taken from baby level. I tried more traditional shots with him originally, and failed miserably. By willingly moving with him and using fast lenses (usually a 50mm f/1.4) allows me to get most of the shots I want. I also love capturing him with a wide angle lens (like a Sigma 10-20mm ) with off angles, but it is often not fast enough and I end up with a lot of distorted blur. Sometimes that captures the moment perfectly.

Do you have plans to keep Baby A’s 365 photographs-a-year project for his 3rd year and onward?
I was religious about Baby A’s 365 project. I ended up with over 400 photos of him. His “Y2A” (2nd year) collection has a few missed days, but is still a solid collection of his tumble into toddlerhood (and mine…). Year 3? I am not sure. I can not see me stopping with almost daily shots, but if I create a new year-long project, I foresee it being more family centered, as opposed to baby centered. Alex’s first year was a tough one for him and me, and his 365 was a wonderful way to share my experience, and garner support through the tough times. Now? It is all about happy family chaos.

What are you working on next in your photographic series?
Series – I love that idea! I have a growing collection of lake and ocean shots taken primarily with my 10-20mm lens (wide angle Sigma lens) that I continue to add to. That is natural for where I live. Also, last November I was able to capture some fog shots and would love to add more to that set but will have to wait for cooperative weather on that one! And as for the kids, I have been inspired by other photographer’s lately, who wonderfully capture the energy of families so I would like to try that.

Do you have a favourite photographer? Any locals photographers?
I definitely have favourite photographers. Ansel Adams was my number one as a child, right up there beside my Bowie posters.

More recently, I have begun to collect work from Ottawa photographer Tony Fouhse. The way he “makes” his images, but still manages to tell a very real story fascinates me. He has several series that are out there right now – USER, APRIL & ERIK and American State – those are all worth viewing.

Photography to you in one word is ____?
Photography to me is… life.

All images are used with Angela’s permission, and will redirect you to her Flickr set stream.

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