Many people have asked for more about me and what attracts me to the kind of photography I do. This section is for them – I hope it will help you get to know me as the human being behind the photographs.
As far as I go, I'm a jack-of-all-trades, a gypsy, a free thinker and a dreamer, a protagonist in my own life and an antagonist in many others'. I'm not a typical frustrated artist, but maybe just a little. I love my life, and I do with it what I can.
Top Artist's Statement
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Sometimes, when I see through my magic tunnel of brass and glass, I can feel myself becoming inverted and distorted, like the photographs that pass through my camera. My image resembles myself, but magnified, saturated, and provocatively rendered. Being in this state, this kind of enhanced awareness, is a starting point for my work.
Since the beginning, I've always photographed temporary things, threatened things, and hopelessly out-of-the-way things. I create when I feel a connection. A subject's shapes, colours, and textures are only vessels, like words in a poem, to help explain what I feel. To this end, I work with my subjects spontaneously, as I find them, and do all of my creative manipulation with traditional optics, in the field.
My creative process has never been easy; navigating the rapids of a fresh idea can be rewarding but thoroughly exhausting. I work abstractly and non-linearly – however, my designs do have trends over time, usually with the goal of delaying recognition so a photograph may better dialogue with its viewer, free of labels. Recent techniques have included seeing without gravity, designing in soft focus, and using shapes to continue the photograph beyond the physical frame.
My current projects are polar opposites, evolving abstract design in both natural and urban environments. In coming years, I hope to rectify the two ways of seeing, aligning my work more closely to my opinions of our changing world.
Top Biography
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Mark Raymond Mason grew up close to nature, in the quiet interior of British Columbia, Canada. His parents were very active – Mark, an only child, was introduced to the wilds as a baby in a backpack, and began to explore on his own as soon as he could walk. Naturally curious and creative, he was also immersed in the arts, but it was in high school that an open-minded art teacher gave him free reign with a real camera for the first time.
After leaving home, Mark traveled and adventured for long periods, learning trades like shoe cobbling, English teaching, and ranch-handing in between. He met his wife, Terri, on a rocking climbing trip. He learned a host of artistic skills, but it wasn't until he sold a broken-down car to an auto wrecker that he finally bought his first camera. The fit was immediate and electric; Mark has spent the better part of the years since refining his skill and exploring creative possibilities from behind the lens.
Mark, Terri, and their son Finlay live in Kamloops, British Columbia. They adventure together throughout the world whenever they can, taking on hiking, climbing, and cycling expeditions throughout North America and abroad. On top of his photography career, Mark is studying and articling to become a professional land surveyor. He still spends most of his free time making photographs, studying art, and showing his photography to others.
Top Curriculum Vitae
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Awards
Merit Award: "Brilliant Branches"
B&W Magazine's 2008 Single Image Contest Awards Issue, Landscape/Nature Category
Merit Award: "Leaf, Ice, Reflections"
B&W Magazine's 2008 Single Image Contest Awards Issue, Seascape/Water Category
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibition: "A Photography Portfolio"
www.MarkRaymondMason.com (Jun 2003 to Present)
Two Artist Exhibition
New Library Gallery, Princeton, BC (Nov 29 to Dec 14, 2008)
Group Exhibition: "A Spirit of Place"
Cowboy Coffeehouse and Gallery, Princeton, BC (Dec 10 to Dec 21, 2005)
Two Artist Exhibition
Foyer Gallery, Squamish, BC (Nov 18 to Dec 18, 2003)
Two Artist Exhibition: "Natural Light"
Amelia Douglas Gallery, New Westminster, BC (Nov 6 to Dec 19, 2003)
Featured Artist, Group Exhibition: "Nature and Humanity"
Cityscape Community Art Space, North Vancouver, BC (May 23 to Jun 15, 2003)
Solo Exhibition: "Mark Raymond Mason, Photographs"
W.A.C. Bennett Gallery, Burnaby, BC (Apr 3 to May 30, 2003)
Solo Exhibition
Ramp Gallery, New Westminster, BC (Mar 21 to Apr 20, 2003)
Group Exhibition
Aaron Ross Gallery, Vancouver, BC (Jan 5 to Mar 25, 2003)
Permanent Collections
"Leaf, Ice, Reflections" 27" x 41"
Property of Amelia Douglas Gallery, New Westminster, BC
Instructional Experience
Workshop: "How to Get the Most From Your 35mm Camera"
Cityscape Community Art Space, North Vancouver, BC (May 31, 2003)
Donations
"Spring Grasses" 11" x 16.5"
Fundraising Auction: Stivers School for the Arts, Dayton, OH (Mar, 2007)
"White Tree, Red Leaves" 11" x 16.5"
Fundraising Auction: Stivers School for the Arts, Dayton, OH (Mar, 2007)
Activities / Current Projects
"Lost Art of Progress"
An exploration, beginning in Canada's booming oil-rich West, attempting to see and record the abstract marks of time and history on aging structures as they are demolished and replaced. (Ongoing: Since Jun, 2006)
"Natural Abstraction"
A journey to the unobvious and temporary wonders of the natural world and a way of seeing beyond "beauty", using challenging compositions to delay recognition of subjects and allow communication through shapes. (Ongoing: Since Apr, 2000)
Top Thank You
There are a lot of people who have helped me become who I am. My wife, Terri, partner in adventure, who surprises, challenges and inspires me, and who can make a bad photo day good anyway. My parents, who always believed I could do something great. And many, many others – fellow artists, friends, teachers and complete strangers who have stuck themselves forever in my mind.
"There are only five real heroes: the Wanderer, the Warrior, the Magician, the Martyr, and the Orphan." – Unknown
