Portraits

Tax Season

Posted by Ellie

When I was about 3, I had photos of myself published in the Montreal Gazette. I was paid for this photo session, and was obliged to file my taxes. This tax preparation session was photographed as a series in the paper. I have no idea who took the photographs, but every year at tax season I am reminded of these photographs and how I feel no different now to how I felt then. Enjoy the session!

A black and white photo of a little girl with curly blond hair with a bow in it, and smiling blue eyes looking at the camera, She has a dress with puffy sleeves and a neat round collar and is smiling confidently. She is holding a pencil in her hand over some papers on a slatted table.
1. All ready to start working on my year end tax returns
A black and white photo of a little girl with curly blond hair with a bow in it, and big earnest blue eyes looking at the camera, resting her face between her hands. She is sitting on a wicker chair and on the slatted table in front of her are some papers with printed figures.
2. It seemed pretty straight forward, but now I’m not sure.
A black and white photo of a little girl with curly blond hair with a bow in it, and big earnest blue eyes looking at the camera as she speaks into the receiver of a toy telephone. She is sitting on a wicker chair and on the slatted table in front of her is an apple, some papers with printed figures on it, and what looks like a toy dog. She is holding a pencil in her hand.
3. I think I had better call the accountant
A black and white photo of a little girl with blond hair, scratching her head as she looks down, mystified, towards a receipt she is holding in the other hand, and she has a pencil held in her mouth. She is sitting in a wicker chair at a slatted table with a paper printed with figures on it.
4. I’m pretty sure I never bought this much software
A black and white photo of a little girl with blond hair that is becoming really messy from running her hands through it. On the slatted table in front of her are some messy papers with printed figures on them and a toy telephone. Her mouth is set in a tight line with a pencil held firmly in it and she is holding the receiver of the telephone in her left hand against the side of her neck, below her ears. Her eyebrows are down in a straight line across her intense eyes, matching the line of the pencil held firmly in her mouth. She might be holding a piece o crumpled paper in the other hand.
5. Yes, of course I’m sure.
A black and white photo of a little girl with messy flat blond hair held back, perhaps with a clip. She is sitting on a wicker chair and on the slatted table in front of her are some messy papers with printed figures on them, an apple, and the receiver of a toy telephone. Her mouth is set in a tight line and her arms are up behind her head in despair. She has a stare of defiance.
6. You can do it yourself, then! I’m not doing any more!

Congratulations to Ben on a Second Oscar

Posted by Ellie
Snow is slanting down on two young men staning in light jackets and shoes, not boots, with a film camera on a tripod in front of them. One is filming and the other is smiling and watching. There is a snowy field behind them and woods in the distance, with a couple of trees just behind them.
Ben and David filming for the Steven Kennard short documentary “Turns” in Nova Scotia, 2015

In 2015 we had a couple of inspired young filmmakers from California visit us to make a wonderful short documentary about Steven. (You can view that video here: https://vimeo.com/519088816) They were lovely guys and so much fun during the days they spent with us. It’s so marvellous to hear that Ben, along with co-director Kris Bowers have won the Oscar for this great short film.

Read about the film and the directors on this site, specially the story of Kris at the bottom: https://breakwaterstudios.com/the-last-repair-shop/

You can watch the award winning film here if you haven’t seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xttrkgKXtZ4 (40 minutes). It is incredibly moving.

More photos of their visit:

Two men are looking through a film camera viewfinder to the left.
Ben Proudfoot and David Bolen filming in Nova Scotia, 2015
It is a snowy scene, snow slanting down, with two young men staning in light jackets and shoes, not boots, with a film camera on a tripod in front of them. They are laughing together and their hands are blurred as they demonstrate the footage they plan to take. There is a snowy field behind them and woods in the distance, with a couple of trees just behind them.
Ben and David enjoying the snow, obviously!
A black and white photo of 3 men in a woodwork shop, with film camera and other equipment. Two of the men are discussing something, one has his finger to his face in thought. The one in the back is listening to the conversation.
Discussing how to make the film title shot.

The Band

Posted by Ellie
Four musicians sitting around a round wooden table with different instruments lying around with cases. There is a guitar player, a bones player, a button accordeon player and a pianist in front of an electric piano set up on the table. There is a brick wall behind and three of the musicians are sitting on an old, dark, wooden settle.
The band – Steven Kennard, Garry Silbert, Mike Mann, Don Shepherd

Our wedding was informal as you can see here. It’s probably not usual for the groom to play in the band at his own wedding, but for us it seemed perfectly natural as music brought us together, in sessions like this one. Not a great photo but good times.

Musicians were – Steven, melodeons; Mike, keyboards and vocals; Garry, bones and bodhran and Don guitar and vocals. Sadly, both Mike and Don have died, but we have our memories of happy times together. If you don’t know Don’s music, (or if you do) you can hear a track “The Sun and the Moon” here.

The Sun and the Moon – Don Shepherd

Fine Detail

Posted by Ellie
Steven Kennard at work - Ellie Kennard 2019
Steven Kennard at work – Ellie Kennard 2019

The detailed and meticulous work that goes into one of Steven’s boxes is sometimes not easy to imagine when you see the polished finished piece. Here I went into the workshop to capture a stage of the box he is making. This is the Hat in a Box. The original finished piece can be seen here: Steven Kennard Turned Work

Steven is forming the top of the ‘legs’ of the box, but you can also see the metal rods that will connect the legs to the body. The legs are snakewood, while the body of the box is African Blackwood. The bowl in the base is also snakewood. The hat is African Blackwood turned and textured.