Biography statement
Murray Gough, Victoria, BC, Canada
Memberships:
Professional Photographers Association
of Canada (PPOC);
The Canadian Association of Photographic Art (CAPA).
Awards:
Two-time winner (2002/2005),The Kodak Gallery Award for Photographic Excellence awarded by the Professional Photographers Association of British Columbia.
A Passion For Photography
Born in northwestern Ontario, Canada my fascination with cameras and photography began as a young boy. Though not a family of picture takers, I enjoyed photographing friends and places. In my early 20's and living in Banff, Alberta I was accepted into the photographic studies program at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts which lead to majoring in stills photography at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Since I was a student, photographers such as Courtney Milne, Freeman Patterson and Eliot Porter to name a few have had an influence on how I see and approach photography.
My images typically concentrate on travel, natural scenery and abstractions that are sometimes not literal representations but altered or enhanced by the use of multiple exposures, time exposures and a variety of photographic filters. Using film cameras and more recently digital technology along with a Polaroid SX-70 camera, I attempt to convey my experience of that moment in time.
Photography has allowed me to appreciate not only the aesthetics of the world but also the care and preservation we must take to ensure the safety and natural beauty of our lands and oceans. As an outdoor photographer I get great pleasure and joy when I'm out in the field where my senses become more involved, more heightened in the search for the photograph as expressed by the following...
“for the artist, the photograph represents something perceived and deeply felt - the equivalent of an emotional or aesthetic experience. The spectator may accept, reject or be stimulated to construct an experience of his own when viewing a work of art.”
... Ansel Adams