'Unveiled' - The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

The Vancouver Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are a 21st Century order of Queer nuns who believe in spreading universal joy and expellling stigmatic guilt.
‘Unveiled' is a series of 10 portraits of the Sisters ‘in face’ and also without their facial makeup, or in ‘Boy Drag’ as they call it. I photographed them on an ethereal white background, as if they were walking through heaven’s door.
I find the Sisters beautiful. The designs and vibrant colours they choose for their faces and the playful, sexy outfits they create themselves express their individuality. I am intrigued with how they express their masculine and feminine sides. They are masculine in appearance, but to me when they are ‘in face’, they transform into beautiful feminine Deities.

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Iona Beach Magic

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Last nights Sunset Chase lesson: be open to a different perspective.
Because if you are willing to change your viewpoint, you just might discover magic.

I came to photograph the cherry blossoms

and I found her giggling in pure joy under a canopy of pink blossoms.
Her name is Xia and it is her second visit to Vancouver from Chongqing, China.
This photo is a gift for her family.
She hugged me and thanked me with her beautiful smile.

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My He{Art} work debuts

Conceptualized it, planned it, photographed it, retouched it, printed it, framed it, mounted it.

Matting and framing my work for the Queer Arts Festival!!

On the walls and ready to go!!

Being in the same show as Joe Average was mind warping for me. Especially when he walked in and looked at my work on the wall.  

Noam Gagnon, my future husband.

Two of my artists...Mandy Randhawa and Eileen Kage.

Zoee Nuage, a photographer I admire and have now photographed.

It was fun to watch people's reactions to the images.

Mandy Randhawa in front of the beautiful image of her we created together.

David Robinson poses with his powerful image we collaborated on and created together.

A touching moment for me when my lighting instructor from photography school came to the opening to congratulate me.

Amber Dawn and I goofing it up in front of her stunning image.

Primal He{Art}

The Primal He{Art} series was inspired from a photo project I was invited to participate in based out of Toronto called the 10x10 Photography Project. The ten year Project is in its third year and each year invites ten photographers to create ten portraits of individuals who have contributed to the LGBTQIA2S+ arts in Canada. Those 100 portraits were showcased at a Gallery in Toronto in June and also published in a commemorative photo book. I was also fortunate to have the Project accepted into Vancouver's Queer Arts Festival Curated Show in August.
My series honoured ten Vancouver artists and the primal heart connection they feel to their artistic expression. I invited my ten subjects to choose words that described what their artistic expression evoked for them. Those deeply intimate words were then spray painted onto their bodies by artist Carole Lagimodiere, and they were then photographed semi nude. I have experienced firsthand the vulnerability of sharing one’s art with the world and I felt that having them pose in the nude would help to illustrate that vulnerability. I also love how light and shadow can create texture, form and beauty when photographing the human body.
I endeavoured to create an atmosphere of collaboration with my artists with poses and lighting that would suit their personalities and to some extent their gender expression. I took the duty that the 10x10 Project bestowed upon me very seriously as I wanted to honour these individuals by creating compelling and beautiful images for them. A lot of folks helped with this Project and I’m extremely proud of what we have all created together.

This is the face of a happy Photographer Girl

I might be just a wee bit proud standing in my room at the 10x10 Photography Project Opening in Toronto, Ontario.

Photo by Teiya Kasahara, Opera Singer Extraordinnaire

Pro-development

I recently got to play with the big lights during a portraiture course taught by one of my favorite Bodhissatva Photographer's Adam Blasberg.

This is Lindsey. Isn't he the most Dapper ever?!!

This is Lindsey. Isn't he the most Dapper ever?!!

Angela helped me with this Game of Thrones recreation. I'm happy with the result especially since we only had about 45 minutes to get the lights and coloured gels right.

The ever so lovely Ava Vanderstarren.

In Memory

When you get that phone call. You know the one. The one where they ask you if you are sitting down. When that call comes time stands still and that moment is etched in your memory forever.

There is no 'right' way to grieve. Everyone finds their own way. My way was remembering through photographs. I sat on my bedroom floor surrounded by photo albums and memories sheltered under yellowing sticky tack pages. Some of the photos were faded. Some of the memories had faded as well, thankfully triggered by the existence of photographic evidence.

It wasn't until my uncle died suddenly last April that I realized how profoundly important photography is in our lives. Photographs helped to renew bonds within my family, they filled us with joy, they offered us relief from our grief, and they honoured my uncle's life.

This is the last photograph I took of my Uncle Stew in the summer of 2011. I will always remember his giggle, his bratty sense of humour and his love of life. I am so grateful I took a moment to take this image of him.

To have had those moments with him and to have this photographic memory. It is truly, a gift.