Ever since I first took to photography in a high school darkroom, it’s been one of the most compelling through lines of my life. I studied music at university, and was a musician and composer during the 1980s. I had to make my own posters, and this led to an interest in design. Bonding with the internet early, and with the advent of the worldwide web in the early 1990s, I taught myself the various threads of digital design, including building websites, using photography and graphics, video, drones and writing to promote ideas. I’ve advocated for a range of environmental initiatives, particularly on Bowen Island, where I’ve lived for twenty years. I was able to contain my work on a laptop, so offices were the café, coastline cliffs and rainforest – wherever I could get a signal.
Photography is a moving art; a kind of combination of dance and painting. Years of street photography taught me to find the decisive moment where body language and environment come together to communicate a feeling or idea. It’s all about time, making aesthetic decisions quickly and intuitively; planning seconds in advance of inspiring alignments; hunting colour and special lighting conditions like rare plants; and seeing more deeply than I think I ever would have without a camera. I owe it a lot.
2022 Solo show: “The Camera Trap”; 40 photographs, interactive camera installations; The Hearth Gallery, Bowen Island, BC
2021 “The Secret” selected by special curator, Susan Baraz, to be included in the International Photography Awards OneShot “Our Times – Pandemic Perspectives” Curated Selection – https://bit.ly/3u8NrXW
2021 Trieste Photo Days Festival: Selected photographers of URBAN 2021 (group show)
2021 Chania International Photography Festival, Crete (group show)
2019 Award of Recognition in the Field of Education and Awareness: Bowen Island Virtual Trail; Heritage BC
2011 Bowen Island Arts Council Gallery (group show)
2009 Ferry Building Gallery (group show)
2008 Bowen Island Public Library (solo show)
2008 Exposure Gallery (group show)
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© John Dowler 1989~present.