Native Men's Residence (Na-Me-Res) Success Story, Andrew

June 12, 2020

we are so honoured and fortunate to have photography as our method of connection with people

We are very aware of our privilege of having the unique learning opportunity through our work. Being in front of the camera, more often than not, is an awkward experience and we very seldom get to photograph people who are naturally enthusiastic and charismatic in front of the camera (ourselves included lol) so our way of easing the tension is usually through talking. Since we’re a team of two and typically rotate between shooting set ups one of us is usually the key photographer while the other is the assistant and/or art director. And in that role we usually will chit chat to loosen people up, get their focus off of the big camera and lens in front of them, and sort of give them a little reprieve.

We photographed Andrew at one of the Na-Me-Res off-site residences where Andrew holds the position as building manager. The building being fairly new, and having recently moved in, there wasn’t really a ‘best room’ to shoot in so in addition to some standard white backdrop photos Andrew brought in some of his own paintings to use! They are so beautiful and really complimented the scene.

While shooting/chatting with Andrew we got to learn about his life story; from residential school to homelessness, overcoming addiction, and the new path he is now on with his roll in the building and his art. We’re always grateful to learn, and even more so to photograph someone at this new chapter in their lives.

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Native Women's Annual Report Success Story, Tamara

March 20, 2020

one of our favourite teams to shoot with year after year is the native women’s team

It almost feels two fold because as much as we love it, we are always shooting at their centre and always in the same places so it can get a little stale after being in the same set up for so long. When we go over to the centre we’re always taking photos of the teams and since we had so much time between teams this year we opted for a couple of indoor set ups and outdoor ones across the street at Allan Gardens. Tamara was so great to work with, it’s always so fun to photograph people who are naturals in front of the camera (and that only happens .0001% of the time!)

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Na-Me-Res 2019 Annual Report

September 20, 2019

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER NA-ME-RES REPORT UNDER OUR BELT AND WE COULDN’T BE HAPPIER!

It feels like every year we shoot this report we get better! In some aspects it becomes harder to shoot because we’re always in the same space trying to do different things, but in some ways I think that’s what keeps us on our toes.

This year was no different than the rest (other than this Medicine Garden shoot) so we shot different success story portraits (Andrew & Robert), general detail photos from around the centre- used as fillers/for misc. content- team photos of all of the different divisions, and new headshots of the centre’s executive director, Steve Teekens!

These shoots are generally broken up over a 2-3 day period so we can try and get as many people together as possible, but even then, some team members are out in the streets, working with clients directly, in meetings, on vacation, etc. so no matter how hard to try to coordinate it, we usually still missing a few people. Nonetheless though, everyone was enthusiastic as always and on our end it’s always great to be back year and year seeing the organization prosper.

For most of these set ups we use all natural light with the exception of the smaller group photos. For the teams that are small enough to fit inside- where everyone is still visible and in focus- we opted to set up a light to bring in some fill in addition to the available light in the room. The power on the strobe was kept low to softly mimic natural light but it was still strong enough to bring some light into everyone’s faces and diffuse shadows.

https://www.nameres.org/

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Na-Me-Res Medicine Garden

September 16, 2019

WHEN WE BEGAN SHOOTING CONTENT FOR NA-ME-RES’ ANNUAL REPORT THE DESIGN TEAM LET US KNOW THAT THEY’D LIKE FOR THE COVER TO BE FROM THE MEDICINE GARDEN

With no particular direction in mind- other than something involving the residents, preferably- it was up to us to shoot as much as possible while we were there on a September afternoon.

Having shot with Na-Me-Res for about 5 years now we know how uncomfortable majority of the residents are when it comes to photography, being photographed, and being included in photos in any capacity, so it came to no surprise when most residents asked to not have their faces shown (but agreed to some detail/from behind shots).

We shot most of the other content before the medicine garden so we tried to pull some inspiration from other shoots but were still unsure. One day Ethan, kind of jokingly kind of serious, said “what about a detail hand shot of someone stroking their hand along the garden, kind of like Thanos in the last scene of Infinity War?” (we’re into the Avengers, don’t judge!) It sounded silly to say but we both understood and thought it was a good reference.

We were lucky to have set up this shoot with some of the residents from the Sagatay program who tend to the garden on a weekly basis and will harvest from it, and it so happens that this was likely to be their last harvest for the season!

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The progression of building up to the hero shot was interesting, considering our restrictions (so many of the men being uncomfortable being photographed) so we worked our way around the garden as quietly and unobtrusively as possible. The guys are always great, often giving us some of their harvest to taste and sharing stories about how gardening has been that year. We tried to sneak in a few shots of different men grabbing peas from above, and even an attempt at a down low shot (like the Infinity War reference) but didn’t love it. Finally, towards the end of the shoot, the sun came out in full force and everything lined up!