Instructors
Jim Balderston Instructor+
A graduate from Ryerson University in Toronto with a degree in photography, Jim Balderston’s career has spanned a quarter century—working as a photographer, educator,master printer and business owner. After graduating, Jim went on to show his work and teach at Sheridan College in Toronto. In 1993 Jim opened Pacific Light Impressions a photographic center offering colour and black and white darkroom rentals, custom lab services, giclée printing and photoworkshops. PLI quickly became a destination for many local photographers and artists. With Jim’s background in fine art photography, he soon established a reputation for a refined sensibility when working with artists. Over the years Jim has worked on fine art photo-based editions for internationally renowned artists that have been collected and shown in world class galleries. Jim continues to shoot stock and fine art while still teaching and exhibiting his work. He continues to specialize in printing fine art silver gelatin prints.
Adam Blasberg Instructor+
Adam still believes in 'Craft'; that to approach the creation of images with care and thoughfulness is to battle against an age of hyper-mass production where images are manufactured like a commodity. Adam strongly believes that photographs should be cinematic, dramatic, and thoughtful, and that this requires commitment to a process and a standard not upheld by most. "Essential in creating the dramatic image is the mastery of lighting. Light shapes, it engages, it draws you in to the story being told though the subjects I photograph. I continue to pursue new technology with an old sense of craftsmanship and strive toward what will become the New Craft".
Greg Blue Instructor+
Ross Durant Instructor+
Ross is one of Vancouver's most established food photographers. Shooting food for over twenty five years, Ross has a highly stylized approach to both his lighting and set design. Ross shoots for advertising, food packaging and still life product work. He has been represented by four photography collections in Getty Images for the past 12 years. He has sold food, beverage, people and travel stock photography worldwide since 1998. A native of Vancouver and a past Langara photography graduate, Ross is also conducting travel photography workshops through Langara's Educational Travel Program.
Jamie Griffiths Instructor+
UK born photographer, film director, performer, experimentalist, interactive computer media artist & community gallerist. Jamie emigrated to Canada in her early 20's but still retains a strong foothold in Europe, collaborating & performing with other artists and teaching workshops. Innovations in experimental photographic darkroom techniques led jamie into film-making and interactive performance collaborations with dance and music, using motion capture/trigger techniques & wireless hand controllers. Her latest works have included a 3D video-projection collaboration with mathematician & knot specialist, Rob Scharein & the birthing of her 'pseudo-robot' called I.V.Y. Jamie’s photographic & performance works have exhibited internationally since 1992. Photographic portraits in the queer SM, body-manipulation & transgender cultures of the 1990’s in San Francisco & Vancouver morphed into experiments with photo-therapy technique, working over extended periods of time on projects with friends living with hermaphrodism & AIDS/HIV. Jamie's photographs have been published in 17 countries and exhibited in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Paris, London, Vancouver and Toronto.
Maria Harper Instructor+
Stephen Jackson Instructor+
Lisa Kaulback Instructor+
Patrick Koslo Instructor+
Kevin Lanthier +
Kevin is a freelance digital retoucher who specializes in compositing for advertising images. He is a graduate of Langara's full-time Professional Photo-Imaging Program, and previously worked both as a photo assistant to several of Vancouver's best-known shooters, as well as seasonal stints as a staff photographer on a sport fishing resort in Haida Gwaii. As a photographer, Kevin's work rarely shies away from his digital skill set. A self-declared product of the digital age, Kevin has been working with Photoshop since before he picked up a camera, and maintains a philosophy that he will use any tool or technique available to achieve the images he wishes to create. He likes to bring this openness of possibilities to his students, to encourage them to try to create the images in their imagination, regardless of the limits of the physical world around them.
cakeimagery.comJohn Lee Instructors+
"When I was 7 years old there was a light-bulb reflected in my bedroom window. It looked like a UFO hovering over the street outside. I borrowed my Dad’s Ektamatic 126 camera and took a picture of it. Four months later we got the film back. It looked like a lightbulb reflected in my bedroom window. I slept a little better that night.When I was 10 years old Star Wars came out. I went 18 times. Serious. I took all my model spaceships outside, lit them on fire and recorded it on my Dad’s Boler Super 8mm movie camera. Four weeks later I got the film back. The movie looked like I was burning all my model spaceships.When I was 14 years old a National Geographic photographer gave me his Polaroid SX-70 and told me to take a picture of him. I did. 45 seconds later he told me to never center your subject in the viewfinder. I then took a photo of the sky with just his ear in the side of the frame. 45 seconds later he said that looked better.I went to photo school where I learned about lens refraction and chemistry. I even learned the Scheinflug Law and how to correct for parallax error.I became a photo assistant and learned that I hadn’t learned anything in school. I became a photographer and learned I hadn’t learned anything as an assistant.18 years later I’m still a photographer. I still look at reflections in windows. I still look at Star Wars in awe. I still shoot skies with people’s ears protruding into the frame. I still love Polaroid Instant film, but it seems kind of slow. Most of all, I still love looking at things. I still love holding a camera. I still love capturing images and showing other people what I see. I love being a photographer, it's what I have been all along, and since I'm too small to play in the NHL, it's what I plan on always being".
Sandra Leung Instructor+
Sandra is one of Vancouver top wedding photographers. She has worked as a professional photographer for over nine years and specializes in lifestyle portraiture and wedding photography. Sandra loves capturing the true essence of people in every image she creates and brings a unique fashionphotojournalistic style to her work. Her studio, Yaletown Photography is located in theheart of Yaletown. Vancouver’s trendy warehouse district.
Lurenda Mastramonaco Instructor+
Lurenda is an award winning photographer with degrees both in Economics, UBC and Education, SFU. Her works have been found on over a hundred billboards, bus shelters, magazine covers and editorials distributed across Canada. Her clients range from contract lawyers involved with NAFTA to an America’s People’s Choice Award winning songwriter.
Christopher Morris Instructor+
Christopher was born in Ottawa, grew up in Montreal, and now lives in Vancouver. He got his start in photography seventeen years ago shooting news and sports events in Montreal for Canadian Press and Reuters. He works for editorial clients such as MacLean’s, Der Spiegel, Newsweek, Stern, L’Express, and Time Magazine doing documentary photojournalism and portraits. His corporate and commercial work includes annual reports and advertising. Christopher’s ability to connect with people and put them at ease can be seen in all his work: authors, politicians, the homeless, CEOs, Olympic athletes, divas, and assorted celebrities are all regular subjects of his work. On location, in studio, or on the fly, it’s all about creating great photographs that tell the story.
"I live in Vancouver, Canada. I have been a photographer for over twenty-five years and have worked with many clients, in many places, on many assignments. With me in Vancouver are my wife Lara, daughters Caitlin and Paige, and dog Gryffon, all of whom like walking on the beach. There are lots of beaches in Vancouver so everybody is very happy. Gryffon likes to chase sticks at the beach, Lara and the girls don't".
Joaquin Pedrero Instructor+
Andrea Sirois Instructor+
Andrea is a commercial & fine art photographer who studied photography in the mid 1980s at Algonquin College. Her specialty is nature, scenic, botanical, and macro photography. On a commercial basis, she shoots editorial photography for a number of publications and has had numerous gallery showings of her personal work. Andrea is an experienced teacher who has worked with a number of schools for photography in Vancouver and abroad.
Johnathon Strebly Instructor+
Andrew Tripp Instructor+
Andrew is the coordinator of the photography program and has been teaching photography and darkroom practices for more than twenty years. "Photography, for me, has always been a means of self-discovery and self-expression, as well as a basic appreciation of the visual world and the quality of light. Each photographic session poses new questions and, potentially, opens new avenues into my perception and comprehension of my role within this mortal carnival. I'm not much of a writer, I can't paint or sculpt, and self-consciousness has always prevented me from acting, yet I need a voice; a vehicle by which I can deliver my thoughts and feelings to anyone willing to listen, and photography has long been that voice. Has anybody heard it? It's hard to say, yet I know I will continue "talking" 'til my stay here is over...
I favour fine art black and white portraiture, conceptual still life and
landscape photography, As an instructor, I attempt to both challenge
and inspire my students, hopefully infecting them with the same passion I
have for the craft. From the initial concept through to the finished
print. I am consumed by a desire to succesfully communicate an idea or
emotion, and it is this desire, as well as a simple enjoyment of the
process which I most hope students derive from my classes".
Jeff Weddell Instructor+
Jeff began his visual journey at a very young age......
"Photography, for me, is freezing a moment in time. That moment is recorded in a way that represents the emotions of the photographer and the scene for a viewer to interpret. It is a technical exercise that must be combined with artistic integrity.
My photographic journey began on a field trip in grade 6, at which time I assumed I had captured an eagle landing in a tree. I remember the physical feeling of releasing the shutter, on a now antiquated Kodak Brownie camera. The results, needless to say, did not carry the same emotions. Although photography was not a constant companion until a few years later, it was the beginning of interpreting 3 dimensional scenes in a 2 dimensional medium. The struggle for a photographer in using the scientific properties of the medium are in an artistic way. How the light responds to the glass of the lens and then to the film or digital sensor can make or break the final results. Learning how these principles affect your image is vital to the end result. Be it for a class assignment or the cover of a magazine, you must understand the basics before you can begin to manipulate them".Jeff now works primarily in the film and television industry as a stills photographer, while continuing to explore the possibilities of i-Phone photography.
Doug Williams Instructor+
"My style provides clean, graphic images with visual clarity, a classic
sense of composition and strong colour. I've shot a wide variety of
subjects since 1983. My specialty is creating dramatic images of
architectural exteriors and interiors for architects, interior
designers, advertising, magazines, realtors, construction and retail
clients. I also photograph people in their work places for editorial
clients.
I shoot high resolution digital images to provide CDs or DVDs to
clients. Medium and large format film may be used too. High resolution
scans and prints can be provided. Most of my work is on location with
high quality lighting equipment. I shoot some studio work too, including
headshots and products. When I am not shooting for a specific client, I
shoot stock photographs, mainly people, landscapes, cityscapes, and
travel. These images are represented through many agencies around the
world by AGE Fotostock, Barcelona and Canadian Press Images.
