Images dance together in photographer O'Mara's new book and show
Vancouver photographer James O'Mara has travelled the world shooting photos of bold subjects, including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Lionel Messi, James Taylor, Jeff Wall, Andy Warhol, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Carole King and Colin James.
O'Mara's work has been exhibited around the globe, and he is celebrated internationally.
An accomplished documentary filmmaker and graphic artist, O'Mara has also created commercial work for some of the world's top brands.
Now O'Mara is on home turf launching his latest show and book, both titled Duets.
They let him dig into a “lifetime of visual diaries” and combine two images to create a new story, while offering viewers an invitation to contemplate shared humanity and the connectivity in our daily lives. The exhibit runs through May 18. Before the event, Postmedia got the busy photographer to answer a few questions.
Q: When did it first come to you to merge two photos together to create the images for Duets?
A: I've put together images since I started shooting photography. The old-fashioned contact sheet naturally assembles them into sequences. That has always appealed to me. A few photos can tell a big story. Over the years, I've combined fragments, shadows and abstract shapes in collages but never just two, as I've done with Duets.
Q: I picture a floor full of prints that you moved around like chess pieces until you found a perfect partner for each print. Is that at all close to how you went about pairing the photos?
A: The Duets book idea started several years ago. I laid out hundreds of postcard-sized prints on a big map table. I started with stand-alone stories I liked. Duets often came from different places and were taken years apart. Some gravitated toward each other immediately because of the elements that both had or didn't have as a colour story, a composition playing off each other, or simply looking good together. It's a gut feeling. I ended up with the 64 in the book.
Q: Did you have any rules when it came to picking photos to combine?
A: Duets work even if you turn them upside down. I've chosen to have them a certain way, but if you turn them around, they still have a balance that works. My way of thinking goes back to when I was a kid. Balance was always important to me as I was drawing and painting, and that continued into art school. When I shoot, I compose things in my own way, hopefully a slightly different way from how most people see things. Every person who is making art has their own sense of what works. I have mine. It's subjective.
Q: What's your No. 1 tip to an amateur photographer?
A: If I were advising a person pursuing photography today, I would recommend studying painting and drawing. Even if the person can't paint or draw well, they will learn about the elements that make a piece successful.
Q: How important is travel to you as an artist?
A: People take pictures when they travel because they may never be back there. That's not my reason for shooting when I travel. I'm turned on by textures and elements that a place might have that we don't have in everyday life here. I get supercharged when I'm somewhere else. I have to document everything I see and like. I'm constantly shooting. If people want to visit my studio,
they have to crawl inside my head.
Q: Your last book and show, Encounters, celebrated your portrait work. Duets' focus is more about place. So, what do you prefer, people or places?
A: People in places.
Q: What's the last thing you took a photo of before answering these questions?
A: The last pictures on my camera are of shadows of people walking and reflections.
Q: Do you always have a camera with you?
A: Having a camera slung over my shoulder is part of my wardrobe. I often don't use it, but there's a comfort in knowing that if I want to, it's there.
The exhibition runs April 20 to May 18 (Tuesday to Saturday, 11:30 a.m.5:30 p.m.) at Paul Kyle Gallery at 4–258 East 1st Ave. (second floor).