Richard Collens

Richard Collens is a lifelong artist and photographer, originally from Southwestern Ontario, but calling Calgary Alberta home for the last 37 years.  He has an insatiable desire for adventure, road trips and finding beauty in natural surroundings; "making the journey the destination".  Although he has had a camera in his hand since he was young, he initially used his photographs as references for drawings and paintings that he was creating at the time.  He started taking his photography more seriously later in life, focusing more on the quality, hygiene and artistry of his images.  

 

Art and photography is a passion that helps Richard slow down the otherwise excessively fast pace of life.  Where the art of painting and drawing allows Richard to slow down, he is in control and can create whatever comes to mind, however he would like it to appear, with whatever media he happens to choose.  Richard finds Photography more challenging, because it requires more perception; looking deeper into the scenery, finding the moment in time and trying to find that spirit that lives within that scenery, since he is not in control of the surroundings.  Richard strives to find that artistic image and spirit wherever he goes and hopes to capture it when he has his camera in his hand.

 

"For me, the journey IS the destination. It's amazing what you find off the beaten path; pristine wilderness, forgotten bits of a previous settlement and a good cross section of life and natural history. I like to mix life and landscape, reclamation, regeneration, the defiance and the resilience of nature. The selections I make for my portfolio have a soul in them that speak to me. Everything has a spirit within it, and if you can capture that soul in an image, it's magic." – Richard Collens