Photographe Paul Galipeau Ottawa Canada | lechampiondumonde.com

Point and click

This is a post for people who don’t take photos in that sort of obsessive compulsive way some of us do.

JE ME SOUVIENS MAINTENANT… Last year, I went to a small yet spirited party at one of my fave Ottawa restaurants, Oz Kafe (huuuge respect to my pals holding down the fort over there), and I had no camera. Others did, however, and I saw at least one mostly sitting on a table, left unused. “Blasphemy!”, I thought, so I picked up the tiny CoolPowerPixShot-whatever-it-was and got to work, thinking I’d never see any of these photos again.

Like a baby, which many people I know seem to be having these days, nine months later, the photos surfaced – apparently as much a surprise to the camera’s owner to me.

Looking at the photos, I actually feel kind of pleased with what I managed to capture with a small camera that had been so neglected.

I’m stoked about these photos because I kind of see them as the potential EVERYONE has to take interesting photos in regular environments if only they cared enough to try.

And you do need to try. You need to take photos every day and become familiar with your camera – whatever it may be. Make mistakes and learn from them. Share your photos and be open to feedback. Don’t be scared to take risk and don’t be bummed when something you like isn’t the same as what your neighbour likes. Be prepared to kill your idols too.

Then again, maybe people are wise to leave their cameras on tables for people like me to pick up and maybe they should do it more often.

Or, maybe “anyone can take these photos”!

Yes? No? Discuss…

PS: Shout outs to Victoire & Danny Deleto, members of which are seen in the above photos and help make this city a bit more interesting for me every day. Sincerely.

CANADA

Two shots I got while biking up Elgin Street last night. Ottawa was pretty calm overall.

Goth Candy Bang Bang

Here’s some goth candy I cooked up for the weekend. Now, when talking photos, don’t forget to breathe. Steady breathing = more oxygen = clearer mind = better ideas?

Whenever I post music on here, I really try to make it songs that are actually hard to find. Sometimes, I even feel like the only way to make it available is to rip it off a 12″ record (as is the case today) or a DVD (as I have done in the past). So here, we have a song originally performed by Cher and covered by countless people in many languages. Petula Clark’s version, to my ears, is probably the most unique and proves that it’s possible for a song that’s meant to be moody and a bit dark to actually put a bit of a smile on your face.

Petula Clark – Bang Bang

On darker, more Nick Drake, tip, check out O. Children.

RIP Alexander McQueen.

Brandon Sek!

Feels like its been a while… What’s up, Internet? Last month, the monthly party I had covered for two years ended. This month, I started a new residency with a lot of the same crew. Everything kicked off on Friday with Toronto’s Brandon Sek in as the guest DJ.

I felt a bit lost for ideas but I feel pretty pumped about what I managed to pull off with an otherwise simple concept. As I continue to do these, I will aim to keep a less is more philosophy. This time, it also was an excuse to play a bit with the adjustment brushes in Lightroom. Too much? At least I’m not isolating the colour of a rose in a black and white image…

That said, I thought boxing gloves would be awesome to photograph but hand them over to people who have been drinking and it turns out they’re probably less inclined to pose for a photo and more inclined to actually beat the hell from each other! Hilarity ensues.

A bunch of bizarre plans seem to be lining up for 2010. I got a fortune cookie that told me I should keep things to myself for now but fingers crossed, eh? I feel good. Until then, check out the blog I maintain for the News Photographers Association of Canada. This week, Peter Martin is writing from the Venice Carnivale and Brent Lewin is writing about Elephants in Thailand.

Finally, lets talk about the weather for a second. Winter temperatures are in full swing but the snow isn’t really falling. Last year, we got pretty significant dumps on a monthly basis. I’m bracing myself for something huge. Here are two photos that say “Ottawa in the winter” for me.

Picturama! $1 photos

Around the turn of the millennium, when I was still a student and before I felt comfortable calling myself a “photographer”, I was taking photos and getting 4×6s printed all the time. I took this camera almost everywhere I went. I used to spend hours scanning them but I doubt many people ended up seeing much of it at all.

That changes tomorrow…

Tomorrow night (Tuesday) at Canteen in Ottawa, I’ll have some of those oldies selling at $1 a pop as part of Canteen’s Picturama. In my photos, you’ll catch glimpses of life in two different communities in Nunavut, a now-defunct hardcore music festival in Syracuse, New York as well as some photos of Montreal and Ottawa. Here’s a preview:

Not seen is a photo of seal blood on the streets of Iqaluit. For real.

The $1 price tag is cheap – maybe too cheap. But, if Picturama works, it should get people thinking about photography as a medium that indeed does have value and that it should be used, printed and displayed. Also, word is that I’ve already made a sale!

Hangin’ pictures on my wall
Every Saturday Rap Attack, Mr. Magic, Marley Marl
- Biggie

Disorganized RIP & Burtynsky

Click the images to see two separate galleries from the final Disorganized, last Friday, January 1, 2010. History in the making.

This second set actually doesn’t have a single photo taken by me. I hooked up a bunch of people with disposable cameras whose flashes I covered with coloured gels. None of these people are photographers and I gave them very little direction. The dark film confused the scanning machine at the lab too so some images in this set are actually halves of two images but, it is what it is. Get into it.

Thanks to Iain, Little Alex, Jif, Antonella, Zach, Cait & Rio for being awesome parts of this project!

Totally, an unforgettable night. I think the set will be released online around Valentine’s Day. Actually, if you are reading this and you have some of your own photos from the night that you’d like to share, we’re collecting them at final.disorg@gmail.com.

The fun’s going to continue at Babylon on Friday, February 5. Details to follow…

Besides all this, I’ve had a nutty week but it has been cool. Edward Burtynsky is speaking at Carleton University this Sunday as well which I’m pyched about. If you haven’t yet, check out his movie Manufactured Landscapes. Here’s the trailer.

99 for 2009

Last year was pretty wicked and I’ve got some exciting projects coming down the pipe for 2010 too. Before those though, here are ninety-nine photos from two-thousand and nine, in chronological order.

If you still haven’t seen it and you’re still in the mood for some Christmas cheer, check my mini Santa video.

Tonight: Last Disorganized ever

Bonne année tout le monde! Last night was good but tonight is when the magic happens. For the last six years, my friends have been putting on a monthly party called Disorganized in Ottawa at Babylon Nightclub. I’ve had the good (mis)fortune of being the resident photographer for the last two years. It all ends tonight.

We’ve all got many tricks up our sleeves that you’ll have to be there to witness but worth mentioning now is the early door time. Doors open at 9pm because there is a special screening of a video made by artist Ryan Stec of the light installation he presented during Nuit Blanche in Toronto. Show up on time to be among the lucky first to see this on four(!) screens.

Here’s a preview:

Bright Lights, Big City Project Documentation from Ryan Stec on Vimeo.

This clip captures the final minutes of a section of Ryan’s project Bright Lights Big City, which synchronized the lighting system on the CN Tower to a radio broadcast on CIUT. The project was produced for Scotiabank Nuit Blanche on October 3rd, 2009.

The scrolling image across the bottom of the screen is the music visualization used to created the light show.

So busy. Little sleep. Lovin’ every minute of it.

Merry Christmas!

Comme remerciement d’avoir contribué à une année particulièrement excellente, je partage un clip du Père Noël que j’ai récemment enregistré lorsqu’il était récemment en visite à Ottawa. Cette production n’aurait pas été possible sans la participation des bonnes personnes aux Bergers de l’espoir et au Tea Store sur le marché By. Merci à tous!

Je vous souhaite tous un formidable temps des fêtes et une nouvelle année à ne pas oublier!

As a thank you for making 2009 a particularly stupendous year, I’d like to share a clip of Santa Claus that I recorded during a recent official visit he made in Ottawa. This was all made possible thanks to the good people at the Shepherds of Good Hope and the Tea Store in the Byward Market. Thanks to everyone!

So, here’s wishing you an absolutely fantastic holiday season and a very excellent new year!

Huge shout outs to my girl La Bolduc for providing the soundtrack.

Walking. Stop. Motion. Stache bash!

Here’s a quick stop motion I made for fun the other day. Truth be told, when I was in high school, video was my main area of interest before photography. I liked the story telling power that video had and was really excited when a few wicked people taught me Avid software at the age of 17. Evidently, I came out of that world a little but in the last year, almost by accident, I’ve started way more video work. I’m excited to see where this leads but for now, here’s a 72-photo 20-second clip. Big ups to my friend Meaghan for holding the microphone.

Now, for the second year, the dudes at M4K Ottawa had me on to take photos of all the Growers. This year, they managed to raise $28 000 for the Children’s Wish Foundation. Amazing. Check out the fruits of everyone’s labour by clicking the banner.

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