Vision of Power, Photography on Canvas

Wayne Benedet
"Pillagers of Light"
Photography

Artist Statement: The title and idea for this show was born out of a number of discussions with Mensie DeZeemeermin a number of years ago. I had recently taken and posted a print that I called “Don’t Blame It On The Rain”. Mensie saw the picture and suggested that the concept would make a great poem. My response is that this was not something that I would ever do. In our discussion, she agreed to try to write a poem. I told her that if she did write something, I would post it with the image in my gallery. The two continue to be displayed together on the gallery. After reading the poem I was struck with the possibilities of creating a show that incorporated the more challenging shots. To begin with I knew I wanted to include images that pushed the limits of the medium especially those involving large dynamic ranges. The dynamic range of a scene is the measurable difference between the darkest and the lightest parts of the scene. Our eyes adjust constantly to allow us to see detail in the highlights and  shadows so we are generally unaware of the dynamic range of most scenes. The camera however does not have the sophistication of our eyes and is only able to record data in a specific range of light, depending upon how the exposure is set. In brief, if you are in a high dynamic range situation and you set a camera to record highlight detail, you will likely loose shadow detail and visa versa. The goal of my project was to maintain as much detail in the shadowed areas as well as the highlights. This challenge would require very careful exposures and processing. Cameras have the ability to capture the light and dark of a scene in a range of about 7-10 exposure stops. However, even if the camera is able to capture this dynamic range, many scenes go beyond that and if the image is destined for print in any form, detail loss will occur. The best quality glossy papers can faithfully record about 3 to 5 stops of detail. And if one moves to a canvas medium, the detail loss is even greater. Apart from dynamic range, I also wanted to demonstrate some of the other technical abilities of the camera and lens. These included things like recording the Milky Way, (Something my mother said could not be done), extreme enlargements, differential focus, large and small depth of field and a few exposures of birds, simply because of the challenge they create with long lenses. The equipment used is varied. Zoom lenses were used in a number of the exposures, like those involving the birds, and the night exposures. But the the most part especially in the last few years a preference was made for prime lenses which are capable of recording the finest levels of detail. - Wayne Benedet

Biography: I began taking pictures in 1975 to use as a reference for painting. The challenge of the art form encouraged me to study photography at Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1979/80. Following this I moved back to the prairies and I have lived here ever since. My prints hang in the Provincial Government Building in Flin Flon, Manitoba and have been displayed at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) and in the Provincial Legislature in Winnipeg, Manitoba. My first solo show was entitled: "An Old Ride - Classics in the Rough". It was on tour in Manitoba from December 2008 to the end of May 2012 in fourteen rural provincial galleries. The collection was featured by “More of Uur Canada” Magazine in September 2011. The collection was also featured by “Our Canada” Magazine in their Anniversary Edition. The second collection was called “Voice of the Pioneers”. It toured to ten rural provincial galleries from the fall of 2011 until the summer of 2013. In the final show at the Heritage centre in Steinbach both collections, "An Old Ride - Classics in the Rough" and “Voice of the Pioneer” were shown together. After twenty four shows in five years,I decided to take a break and begin collecting images for another show. “Ridge Road Chevy”, was selected by the Central Juried Art show to tour the Province in from May 12, 2008 to September 30, 2008. “Shroud” was selected by the Central Juried Art show to tour the Province in from May to September 2010. “Beside Peaceful Waters” received an Honourable Mention in 2011 by the World Wide Gala Awards. "Who Has Seen the Wind" won an honourable mention at The World Wide Gala Awards, in the Country Landscape Category 2012. A total of 41 artists were selected from among 282 photographers from 46 countries. 39 were awarded Honorable Mentions from the WPGA's Jury.

I live in Morden, Manitoba so much of my work is about the beauty, history and pioneering spirit of this area. I teach Photography and Processing at Red River College, Winkler Campus and speak about photography to community groups. Examples of my work can be found on line in a number of galleries and websites by GOOGLING Wayne Benedet.