About the artist
Christopher Byrd has been involved in photography for many years. As a secondary school teacher of English in Montreal for 30 years he also taught students in photography, cinematography, and graphic design.
It was during these formative years he first experimented with solarization, high contrast, and other dark room techniques of silver bromide photography. His sense of design and experimentation was further stimulated during his research for a Masters degree in Communications at McGill University. Part of his thesis was an experimental poetic film entitled Primal Path an allegory of life’s initial steps from darkness into light, winter into spring, which included his youngest daughter entering the world from the womb.
The advent of digital photography has enabled Christopher to free himself from some of the constraints of standard photography. He is less concerned with the technical aspects than with capturing the image at the right moment often manipulating the results on the computer to express themes of a poetic nature. Though some may view this as photographically unethical he thinks of it in terms of artistic creativity. Textures, patterns, rhythms, moods, and the play of light and colour fascinate him.
Rather than spend time setting up for a single shot he is more likely to shoot a lot of shots rapidly in an attempt to capture the perfect moment. He is not a technical perfectionist – he allows the camera to do the work for him while he searches out the subject. Always the subject matter transcends the technical.
Christopher’s retirement years enable him to travel, walk the woods, and search out those unique and sometimes very simple moments that give him, and hopefully others, a lot of pleasure. He relocated from Montreal to Peachland, BC, in 1999.
Countries to which he has travelled: South Africa, Namibia, China, India, Nepal, Thailand, Egypt, Peru, Ireland, UK, Europe, Caribbean, Mexico (East and West) and the US
Local exhibitions: Peachland Little Schoolhouse Summer exhibitions (2005-2011); Westbank Artafair (2007-2008), Winfield ArtWalk (2008-2011)
Antelope Abstract II - Antelope Slot Canyon, AZ
Dance of the Veils - Antelope Slot Canyon, AZ
Guy Spotting in Cairo
Patterns of Karnak - Luxor, Egypt
