8 minute read
2021 Portrait Photographer of the Year
VICTORIA WEST, mpa
2021 PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
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THAT WHICH SHAPES HER LIFE, SHAPES HER ART
By Terry Tinkess
BEING NAMED PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR HAS BECOME A BIT OF A HABIT FOR VICTORIA WEST, HAVING PREVIOUSLY WON IN 2019 AND 2020. SHE SEEMED A BIT SURPRISED THIS YEAR THOUGH, WHEN SHE HEARD HER NAME ANNOUNCED.
“Last year I was very nervous about the awards ceremony because I felt pretty confident that I would win because I had really high scores,” she says. “I was nominated for three Best in Class, so I was feeling like pretty confident and nervous because if you don’t win, you’re going to be disappointed.” This year she says she was not expecting to win and was very surprised when she did! Victoria’s work often involves a lot of previsualization and the use of composites in creating the final image. Rather than considering the individual layers, she prefers to work around a finished idea and then try to figure out how to get there. “I have a vision of what I want to create and then I do whatever I have to do to get as close to that as possible. Up until now everything that I’m using in my composites is stuff that I’ve photographed. I’m definitely a person who just jumps right in. I don’t really worry too much about figuring it out now, I’ll figure it out on the other end and I just kind of go for it in my way.” Victoria admits that she takes some inspiration from others in the photo industry, but believes that really, she has created her own path. “There’s so many photographers doing so many different things and I think so much of it’s to be admired,” she says, “but as far as what I want to create, I don’t think anybody is really doing exactly what I’m doing. I’m doing something maybe a bit weird.” In developing her own style, Victoria says that it is the things that shape her life are the things that ultimately shape her art. “My competition work is what I make for me. It’s what I want to make, so it’s my voice. I’m telling the story that I want to tell so I think that’s just shaped by all my different thoughts and feelings and journey in life.” These influences are apparent in her submissions this year. Losing her mom to cancer in December of 2019, along with what the world was experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic were the two influences that combined to enable Victoria to create Until We Meet Again. “When she died, she was in Hospice and we were all there and it just felt like the worst, you know, like it just felt like such a difficult thing to experience. Those moments, I had no appreciation for them, they were just really negative. COVID came shortly after and throughout COVID you would hear stories or even know people who had to say goodbye to loved ones over iPads or
never even really get to say goodbye and people separated from their loved ones. Suddenly, it was like getting the opportunity to say goodbye became something that wasn’t such a horrible thing. I would think to myself so many times I’m so grateful that my mother didn’t go through that illness and pass away during COVID. I’m so grateful it happened before and we did have the opportunity to be there with her, so my perception of what it means to be able to say goodbye did change and I wanted to show that in a way that it wasn’t a horrific thing. I mean, obviously it’s difficult but at the same time I think we can find an appreciation for the idea we’re all going to go at some point so if we’re lucky enough to be surrounded by people who care about us and go in a peaceful way it’s not really that bad.” #MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls) is an image that stems from Victoria’s strong belief in and support of social justice issues. She is an animal rights activist and also has created images inspired by the Me Too movement. “The red hand is a symbol for missing and murdered Indigenous women, no more stolen sisters, I think, is sort of the campaign that uses that so it’s a pretty recognizable symbol”, says Victoria. “I wanted to make a portrait where I had an Indigenous woman looking very strong, very bold, something that really stood out. All of the faces in the background, I blurred them too so that they wouldn’t be individually recognizable because I didn’t want to take away from the main subject.”
Launched in 2016, the National Inquiry into MMWIG reported the truths about Canada’s extremely high rates of human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people, which are rooted in colonialism and colonial ideologies.
The impact will continue for generations to come unless we take specific action today. Learn more at www.mmiwg-ffada.ca.
I wanted the image to have a sadness to it but also a power to it. I think my model who’s not actually a model, pulled it off well. She has a pretty neutral expression and I didn’t want a lot of wardrobe taking away from it. I really wanted it to be about her face so we made the decision to leave the Indigenous earrings on with the beadwork because not everyone knows what missing and murdered Indigenous women are or even knows what it stands for. I feel like the earrings just make it a little more obvious.”
The image was created in consultation with her local Indigenous community and was well received. The image entitled It Takes A Village illustrates the level of trust that Victoria is able to build with anyone who steps in front of her camera. “Most of the people that I photographed nude usually I’m friends with them so that helps for sure,” says Victoria. In that photo the grandmother and the pregnant mother, I know them, but the sister, the aunt, I had never met before so she was putting her trust into her mother and sister, that they know I was to be trusted. People know my work enough to know what to expect, that it’s going to look pretty fine art. I’ve done portraits of my husband nude many times, everybody’s seen them, they know they’re not seeing any bits or anything, so I think that probably helps me out, but I mean I still struggle to get nude models for sure because these people aren’t models, right? They’re just brave individuals.” Victoria’s fourth image is a portrait of Brenda Murphy, Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, and it presents her in profile, rather than facing the camera. “She came in for a portrait session just for head shots and stuff like that, but she also brought that coat,” says Victoria. “It’s a coat that’s meant for a man, it’s the Lieutenant Governor’s ceremonial coat and it’s huge and really heavy. She’s a tall woman; she’s probably almost six feet tall and it was still large on her. As soon as I saw it, I just knew.” “She’s really statuesque and she has really beautiful energy about her you know, where she’s very intelligent, very self-assured. To me she felt she had almost like a Royal air to her so I wanted to make her look like she could be part of the Royal family sort of thing. To me when I think about old portraits of the Royal family or important people, they’re usually looking off camera or they’re in profile.” Victoria isn’t saying what she has planned for next year, because who can say what will happen between now and then? Safe to say that as she continues to create her own path, the images she creates will mirror the things that matter to her.
Congratulations Victoria, on your 2021 PPOC Portrait Photographer of the Year award! Victoria West, MPA
Victoria West is a full-time portrait photographer. She’s built a strong reputation and business in Oromocto, NB, by creating portraits for people who hate being photographed (just like her). She’s a proud PPOC member and serves on the Board of the Atlantic Region. She is also an internationally awarded photographer having top 3 finishes at WPPI, WPE, and World Photographic Cup in 2019. She’s also 2020 & 2019 Portrait Photographer of the Year for PPOC. Victoria is also a passionate animal rights activist and lives with her husband, 5 dogs, and 1 unlucky cat.
