A great work of art is like a dream;
for all its apparent obviousness,
it does not explain itself
and is never unequivocal.
(T.S. Eliot - Poet)

The photograph as a whole may be heard Visually.
If one is receptive the photograph may speak visually.
Tho if you insist, it may speak in your own words.
(Minor White - Photographer)



Danny's Photography Page


If your browser supports tables, then just click on the following links to view more about my photography.
General Dark Room Cameras My Galleries Photo Links


General Information

Well... what can I tell you about my photography?

Good question! There's lots of things I could say, but I'll try and keep it simple.

I've been interested in photography all my life. Over the last four years, I've had the opportunity to purchase some good camera and darkroom equipment and really start to LEARN more about it.

I work mostly with B&W (Black and White), but the last year has seen me working a lot with colour stuff as I've acquired the means to process these materials at home.

I work a lot with landscape and nature shots. Architectural and urban landscapes are another favorite topics of mine.

And cats!!! We can't forget those lovely furry creatures!

I've been very fortunate in that Toronto has a large and active community of photographers. I've joined a local gallery

(Gallery 44)

that has offered me the chance to work and learn from some of these people, and it has also given me the chance to exhibit some of my work.

I've had two shows in assoiciation with the gallery.

The first was a solo show in the smaller members space in November of 1996. This was a collection of works that I have called Meditations and Dreams. I'm hoping to get that work translated into web pages at some point, as I would like to get a permenant record of that show up.

The second show was as a group of three showing at a Second Cup coffee house as part of Contact 97, which was a month long celebration of photogaphy here in Toronto this past May.

Some of my favorite photographers are



My Dark Room

Sigh... is currently all packed away in boxes. YEAH!!! The joys of moving!

I do plan on getting at least a temporary setup again in the next few months or so. I'm planning on building a permenant setup in my basement sometime over the next year, hopefully!

If anybody out there has some hints and tips on going about building a darkroom, it would be greatly appreciated! Also, pointers on people in Toronto who might be able to help me out would REALLY be appreciated!

I came into a bit of luck back in the winter / spring of 1996, and I was able to purchase a lot of darkroom and photography equipment second hand.

I currently do all my own black and white work at home, and all my colour printing here as well. I've had mixed results when developing my own colour film, so to save myself hassles, I usually just take it to a film service and have them do the processing.

My darkroom consists mainly of an old Omega D2 enlarger, with a B&W and colour head. The colour head was the coup when I was purchasing the equipment. Originally, it only had the B&W head with the system, but they had a colour head unit that they were just using to check colour balances on slides, and not for enlarging. The place didn't need this any more, so I got it with the rest of the stuff!

I'm setup right now to print using 35mm, MF (60x45mm up to 60x120mm) and larger format 4x5 inch negatives.

With B&W, I work mainly with RC papers. I'm just starting to learn to work with fiber. Slow work, but I'm liking what I am seeing. Most work I do is up to 11 x 14 inch paper, just because that's how large my easel is!

I tend to use Ilford B&W papers a lot, but I do like some of the Kodak papers, depending on what I am doing.

Another paper I like is the new defunct Oriental Seagull papers. I REALLY like what these papers could do! A new company has emerged from the owners of the Oriental papers called Cachet. I haven't had a chance to try out these papers yet, as they are special order in Canada right now. I look forward to giving them a try.

Question: Has anybody had a chance to try out the new Cachet papers? I would be interested in hearing what you think of them!

Colour work is a LOT more challenging, but I'm getting the hang of things. I do the processing in a set of colour tubes that was given at Christmass of 1995.

ok, ok. You can stop groaning. Actually, working with the tubes has been not that difficult. I've had chances to work with full unit processors, but it's expensive renting time to use them, and in this way, I can work at my own leisure at my own home. And I think the results are a bit better in the long run.

I started out working with Kodak papers, but I've switched almost exclusively to Fuji papers. I find that Kodak is just to harsh for most of the images that I work with, and that the Fuji papers also render the tones and colours more subtly than the Kodak.

That being said, I do have some images that really thrive with the extra punch that Kodak can give it.

I've recently started to work with slides, and I'm looking to start working with Cibachromes / Ilfochromes. Again, any tips or pointers to using this process would be GREATLY appreciated!



My Cameras, and others that I like

I currently have two cameras that I work with, a 35mm camera, and a MF camera.

I've had my 35mm Canon AV-1 for about the last 3 years now, and it has given me quite a lot of good shots over those years. Not the fanciest camera, but it is nice and solid and FEELS like a camera when I'm working with it.

I guess I have a bias towards older cameras. The ones I like tend to be the really solid, reliable workhorse types. I like to hold a camera and have it FEEL like something, not just a light piece of plastic that I feel like I have to treat with kid gloves.

My other camera is a Medium Format Mamiya C220. This is a TLR (twin lens reflex) camera, where there are two lenses mounted to the camera. The top lens is used for viewing the subject, and the bottom one is used to take the actual picture.

Using this camera has made a LOT of difference to how I go about shooting in general. It forces me to SLOW DOWN and really THINK about what I am going to be shooting. It is much larger than a 35mm camera, and a bit ackward at times. It also weighs a LOT more than my old Canon does!

The negative from the MF camera is almost 4 times larger than that of the 35mm, so the amount of details is amazing! The negative size with my Mamiya is 60x60cm. This is a very nice size to work with, and the square format makes things quite interesting.

I also like another MF camera put out by Mamiya. It is called the Mamiya 645. It takes negatives which are 60x45mm. This rectangular ratio is close to that of 35mm, but almost three times larger. I've used this camera a little bit, and this looks like it will be my next BIG investment in photography. In a couple years time that is. (grin, once the bills go down a bit!)



Email: djjo@torque.net
Please write. I'd love to hear what you think about these pages, about me, about life in general, etc etc. I will write back, you can count on that!


Get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged.




Suddenly my feet are feet of mud
It all goes slo mo
I don't know why I'm crying
Am I Suspended in Gaffa?
(Kate Bush - "Suspended in Gaffa")

Last updated: August 25th, 1997 by Danny Ouellette
Most photos are © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 Danny Ouellette