CULTURE: Lindsay Elliott

Lindsay Elliott: Event Photographer

1. Lindsay Tell us about how you go into photography? what about event photography?

I think, like a lot of people, I really got into taking pictures when I
got a digital camera. Prior to that I owned a 35mm SLR that I only used
for special occasions since the cost of developing was too much for me to
afford if I was just playing around (and I really didn't know how to use
it). Event photography was a total accident. I used to take my point &
shoot digital to Mod Club at the Lotus Hotel every Friday night and post
the pictures on my livejournal the next day. I ended up with a lot of
hilarious pictures and everyone seemed pretty stoked on it. Eventually it
just became habit - every time I was out I'd have my camera, it gave me
something to do if I wasn't dancing. Eventually I got asked (along with
Lindsay Smith, who was my co-conspirator at the time) to take pictures at
a new monthly party at the Columbia and after that we got offers here &
there from promoters around town to come do their parties. I guess that
was the start of it.

2. What do you love about it?

There's not really anything about it that I don't love. It's been such a
fun hobby - getting dressed up, drinks with friends, meeting tons of new
people, taking pictures and then spending the next morning (usually hung
over) going through my night in photos, photoshopping & posting..
The site has given me this fantastic record of what  my friends & I have
been up to in this last three years and I love it. It's not just party
pictures - there are trips to Barcelona, Los Angeles, London, road trips
to the states, a wedding, birthday parties, house parties, our art show
etc. etc.   I've also met so many rad people that I wouldn't have had the
opportunity to meet because of the site.

3. do you remember when you first picked up a camera?

I don't really remember when, I have a ton of photo albums at home that
begin with pictures I took of my friends around 12 or 13, so I guess
sometime around then..

4. What do you dream of doing? Photography in your future?

Photography will definitely be in my future. I would love to have the
opportunity to learn more about photography as a craft, but even if it's
always just a hobby, I can't see ever stopping. I think I'm still figuring
out what my dreams are - until recently I'd been doing it sort of
backwards, figuring out what I DON'T want to do first.

5. Who is your role model in life and/or photography?

I am so hugely inspired by anyone I meet who has found what they love to
do and is working steadily towards it. People who don't want to 'figure it
out later' or are happy with 'just okay'. I have met a few of them lately
and I'm completely inspired by the way they live their lives.

6. Tell us something people don't know about you.

I'm really a man. just kidding. .. or am I?


Culture:

7. How do you feel about photography being so accessible these days ( on
cameras, and even digital photography)
I think it's awesome. It's like I said, I never would have learned how
much I like to take pictures if it hadn't been for digital photography. I
look through sites like Tumblr & Flickr and I'm soooo amazed at the
quality of work that is being turned out by people who are just looking to
create something beautiful and have fun in the process. We are going to be
the best documented generation to date and I can't see how that could
possibly be bad. I can't wait to look back on it all.

8. How did you come up with Lindsay's diet?

We created the site to get the pictures off of livejournal and somewhere
more accessible. The name of the site -lindsaysdiet.com came from my
brilliant friend Erica. A bunch of us were sitting around my apartment the
night we decided to register a domain, brainstorming names that weren't
either taken or too generic and she came up with that. It was supposed to
be a play on what Lindsay (Smith) & I 'dined' on.. our lifestyle &
friends.

9. did you think it would get this notable? - i mean people go directly to

your site right after a party.

It doesn't surprise me that if people get their picture taken, they go
check it out the next day. Who wouldn't? There are plenty of party photo
sites in plenty of cities, I think they've just become a party staple now
- like the dj or a rad flyer or someone to do visuals. It's fun to see
what people are wearing and how the night went and who was there.. I'm
stoked that people are into it too.

10. What does the future have in store for Lindsay's diet?

A lot of traveling actually - I'll be in Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Austin & Miami Beach in the next few months.  Then I'm going on tour with
DJ Skeet Skeet (eatskeet.com) and Rony (ronysphotobooth.com) on the Shoot
n' Skeet tour from Irvine, CA (Bamboozle Left) to New Jersey (Bamboozle).
I'm reallllly excited about that!  My lovely & talented friend Coral
Mercer, who's been a part of lindsaysdiet since it's conception,  is going
to be photographying Glory Days at the Biltmore in Vancouver every
Saturday while I'm gone and posting it on the site, as well as adding her
own random, rad, photo-updates.

11. What have you gained from this endeavor? any regrets?

No regrets at all. The site has opened up so many opportunities for me,
I've met a ton of fantastic people that I otherwise wouldn't have and I've
learned so much about myself and my friends.

City:

Favorite Place to Eat: The Four Seasons or Foundation

Favorite Place to Hang out: Wherever my friends happen to be. Four Square
in the west end when the weather is nice.

Favorite Place to Shop: Ebay or True Value Vintage or Club Monaco

Favorite City: I don't think I've seen enough cities to pick a favorite.

What you like about Vancouver: How everyone knows everyone, I love playing
the "hey! you must know " game.

ART: Jamie Bizness

 Jamie Bizness

1. Tell me a bit about yourself ( Where are you from, where did you study, how did you get into art) 

im 25 years old, im from edmonton alberta originally, but moved to ontario when i was one, moved to calgary at 6 where i stayed with my aunt ellen Macleod who is an amazing painter, and my main inspiration for creating art, she taught me water color, my grandma taught me calligraphy and i loved watching her doodle on notepads, and i started to do what she did. and i basically never stopped drawing, always shyed away from institutionalized art , never got high grades in art class but continued to do art on my own time, grade twelve had a decent teacher, sold my first painting, started to sell more paintings all over calgary all through private sales, had several side projects which were fashion based. and started to travel to vancouver to sell art and clothes, and decided that i loved vancouver and i moved here 5 years ago, where i have further persued my art in form and in marketing. i try to diversify as much as possible, but the bulk of my work is illustration and mixed medium (acrylic, ink, wood cut, spraypaint, paper etc) on canvas and wood

my goals are for the future to expand my self as an artist continueously and apply my art to business . 

other than art i skateboard , and think about art and skateboarding , and all of lifes little questions. smoke mass amounts of chronic, and pretend to dj. 

2. Did you always know that you wanted to be an artist? why? 

im 100 percent artfag hehe, all day errrry day , in the ayyyyyy.

3. What is your dream when it comes to your passion? 

my dream is to always be stepping it up and learning , and doing what i love to do. work with other artists, make books, make bank, make movies, travel, and it all recycles back into the art. and to llive love life 

4.who is your role model (idol) in your career path? 

my role models are  my aunt (ellen macleod) my grandma (marge macleod) they both were always inspiring me, AW (andy warhol) 

 

Culture: 

7.  How do you feel about underground art vs. art with a capital 'A'? 

I believe that art is a very broad term, personally i identify with painting and illustrating the most , and im kind of  jaded i guess to alot of other forms or lets just say im very picky, as for high art or low brow if you wanna try to put names to them i think that this concept is silly, i think its eliteist and very stifleing to the advancment of art and just the general mentality of people in general. Then again i suppose if you were to ask me which stereo type i like better and appreciate more , then the later would be my choice, gotta keep it hood. but my thing is that i want that hood to be so dope that everyone wants to be a part of it  like a community, and anyone that wants to be a part of it can come by , and if you're rolling through with ill will and scuff my " jordans"  then "ima have to fuck you up quick two time" i guess it has to to with where i grew up i suppose and what i think is dope and i like some art thats considered to be high art and i strive to be at that level, but only aestheticly and the same goes for underground artists as well theres lots of artists painting with what lots would call the same style. i love that art just as much as a  dali if not more sometimes. so the two worlds in my mind blend seemlessly and i hope that one day it does for everyone and not just in the art world

8.  What are your views on underground art in Vancouver, do you think it's a sleeping giant ? 

Underground art in vancouver , never heard of it, its allll on the up and up and up.  people were just to busy stuck in grade nine latching on to the cool kid and now people are starting to grow up and have there own style and i think just like in music art has niches and i think vancouver is gonna cap on a big part of those soon cause there is  alot of talent here , we just need to get together and make a bigger bang to look at, if that makes any sense hehe.

9.  Tell us about the style of your art-

my art is very introspective in execution . its like meditating, so its very dreamy and surreal. i love colors and pushing color combos that you wouldnt normally see with forced design, its more natural like if you're at a party and everyone has different clothes and colors on but its still a really stylee fun party. its kinda like that. lots of symbology and inferred messages about my philosophies , and ideas, so its constantly changeing cause i like to inform myself and constantly learn so i think it shines through in my work.

theres definately a heavy poster art feeling in the sense that its really quite pop'ie . which i do to catch the eye and look good in passing but i spend quite a bit of time on detailing so that is people decide to stop and look they are gonna be able to se something else everytime they look at a piece.

i should add that i dont exactly stick to one style but i do try to tie it all in somehow, for instance i might paint something in classical style over and abstract background. 

i like to keep it fresh, which i think is not traditional for most artist . where the idea is to be identifiable , I'd like to be identified as unidentifiable. MAMAISM is how i would call my style, it is a precursor to dada, more self actualized and primative , i think that the dadaists  missed the the true nature when they stopped at dad they forgot about mom. heheh. soo i just wanna basically try to helppeople rethink, start instead of stop, and question everything. especially themselves. to push limits and boundries.  in a shell of course

10.  How do you feel about Vancouver as a venue for arts and culture? 

vancouver is a beautiful city and a perfect stage if we could only figure out how to open them mutherfucking curtains sorry mom)

 

11. tell us something funny..anything:  

how do you catch a bear?  

you dig a hole in the ground, fill the hole with ashes, surround the hole with peas.

now when the bear goes to take a pea, kick him in the ash hole.

:)

12. advice to any other aspiring artists?  

everyday allllllllllllllllll day , neverstop working, obsesss, experiment, never let anyone tell you no you cant cause you can, quantum physics, acid, mushrooms, weed. practice practice practice. if you dont know , you bettah akssss somebody.   

City: 

Favorite Place to Eat:  smile cafe on pender, breakfast special, or myhouse grilled cheese

Favorite Place to Hang out: vic square, plaza, redgate, your house, the beach, 

Favorite Place to Shop:  who shops when you use to work at aa  wink wink

Favorite City:  van city

What you like about Vancouver: everything and nothing at the same time. it just is like buddah

check out Jamie's Show this week: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=52795651151