digital photography Archives - The Image Journey

My new photo zine Adventures In Monochrome is now available at Blurb Books:
https://www.blurb.ca/b/12676431-adventures-in-monochrome

It covers a span of my black and white photography from 1979-2025 and contains 37 photos. The price is US$20 for the zine and US$10 for the PDF.

From the introduction:
The Beverly Hillbillies; Bugs Bunny; Get Smart; Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The zany antics, chaotic energy, and surreal plots of those shows formed one of the memorable backdrops of my childhood. And I was seeing these in black and white, before my family had a colour TV. (Like so many people my age, I’m inexorably drawn to any photo with a Jetsons sensibility.)

The shows of my childhood often had an eerie quality, as well (The Twilight Zone, for example), and trying to capture that feeling in some of my photos is another challenge I enjoy.

Taking photos is a well that never has to run dry. Funny and mysterious: That’s pretty much the whole deal in life, isn’t it?

Avard Woolaver
December 2025

Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, 2024 – © Avard Woolaver

Wolfville, Nova Scotia, 1980 – © Avard Woolaver

Windsor, Nova Scotia, 2025 – © Avard Woolaver

Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, 2015 – © Avard Woolaver

Kennetcook, Nova Scotia, 2024 – © Avard Woolaver

Windsor, Nova Scotia, 2007 – © Avard Woolaver

Portlands Development, Toronto, 2025 – © Avard Woolaver

Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2011 – © Avard Woolaver

Vancouver, British Columbia, 1985 – © Avard Woolaver

Carlaw Avenue, Toronto, 2002 – © Avard Woolaver

Campobello Island, New Brunswick, 2025 – © Avard Woolaver

Scotch Village, Nova Scotia, 2025 – © Avard Woolaver

Found Fields refers to my approach when taking photos: scenes found in my field of vision. I’ve always been a gatherer rather than a hunter. That is, finding scenes (by chance) rather than intentionally hunting them down. Many of my photos are taken during my daily routine, or just going somewhere. As with many photographers, I’m attracted to the newness of things–going to new places, and seeing new things. But, I’m also attracted to seeing familiar scenes, places that I have photographed many times before. It seems that a particular scene never looks the same way twice.

American photo master Lee Friedlander said it best, “I’m not a premeditative photographer. I see a picture and I make it. You don’t have to go looking for pictures. The material is generous. You go out and the pictures are staring at you.”

There are interesting photo possibilities everywhere. The trick is, always carrying a camera, and taking the time to observe the world around you. Over the years I’ve been refining my vision and technique and am striving for themes and images that have a deeper meaning, (for me, at least.)

I’m currently working on a photo book with the “Found Fields” theme. Stay tuned!