Instructors
Photo by Andrea Sirois (instructor)
Jim Balderston received a BAA in photography from Ryerson University in Toronto. He has worked as a photographer, master printer and educator.
After graduating, Jim went on to exhibit his work and refine his printing skills at Toronto Image Works under the direction of photographer Edward Burtynsky.
In 1993 Jim established Pacific Light Impressions in Vancouver BC; a successful print studio dedicated to producing exhibition quality prints for photographers and artists. Over the years Jim has worked on fine art photo based editions for internationally renowned artists, such as Ed Ruscha, Mike Kelley and Harmony Korine, that have been collected and shown in world-class galleries.
Currently, Jim teaches photography and is program Coordinator of the Photography Program at Langara College in Vancouver BC.
Jim continues to devote time to pursuing his personal projects, exhibiting his work and leading photography tours to the Yukon and Haida Gwaii.
Wendy Kwan
In her work as a contemporary art photographer, Wendy explores quiet threads of human culture, acknowledging a deep sensitivity and respect for her subjects. With an insatiable desire to control all aspects of her photographic expression, Wendy was drawn into traditional black and white photographic methods 15 years ago, working with film and creating wet darkroom silver gelatin fibre prints. She photographs with an old and beloved Canon F1 35mm camera, as well as medium format cameras including a Mamiya C330, a Mamiya 645, and plastic toy Holga cameras.
Wendy’s work has been exhibited and installed at galleries and venues in Vancouver, on Salt Spring Island and at the Malone Gallery at Troy University in Alabama. Publication credits include feature articles in CameraArts and PhotoEd magazines and her work has been featured in the internationally published journal Spiritus. Together with her husband Russ, their self-produced book Chasing Light Stranger is internationally awarded and catalogued in the Canadian Museum for Contemporary Photography.
With a degree in Recreation Education from UBC, and a past 20 year career working as a recreation therapist with people with physical disabilities, Wendy brings her knowledge of photography and experience working with people in a goal setting environment to her teaching approach . “In addition to being completely passionate about photography, I want to help students identify their own personal affinities and processes, and reach their photographic goals. I will share whatever knowledge I have acquired to help them reach those goals.”
http://WendyKwan.com
Russel Kwan
Russ’ continuing exploration of the darkroom arts is still going strong after 40 years. His dual-toned fiber-based silver gelatin prints have exhibited duo (with Wendy) in museum and commercial venues in Canada and the United States. He and Wendy’s photographs, writings, books and processes have been featured in photography magazines and journals, including PhotoEd, Camera Arts and Spiritus. He has personally invented a few chemical/physical processes that give rise to his unique visual language: ultra-long film exposures lasting 17 days and beyond, paint-on chemistry that alters and rearranges the silver structure of prints, homemade cameras and hand-coated light-sensitive materials. His background in computer science (BSc UBC 1981) and work as an engineering imaging/prepress consultant to Adobe, Apple and Microsoft honed the skills for producing photographic books and other offset-press creations from concept to print. He designed and engineered the custom tritone curves and handmade inkset used in his and Wendy’s multiple award-winning book, “Chasing Light Stranger”. He delights in using his materials without reference to the manufacturer’s instructions.
“Film, chemistry and silver prints are still an unexplored country. There is so much to do, so much to learn, and there is almost nobody in this space. It’s perfect for people who don’t care what the mainstream is doing. People who need to be creative. People who need to invent. People who need to see what photography can really do.”
http://RusselKwan.com
Andrea is a commercial & fine art photographer who studied photography in the mid 1980s at Algonquin College. Her specialty is nature, scenic, botanical, and macro photography. On a commercial basis, she shoots editorial photography for a number of publications and has had numerous gallery showings of her personal work. Andrea is an experienced teacher who has worked with a number of schools for photography in Vancouver and abroad.