Two deeply sad circumstances

I recently learned of Halifax-based photographer Stephen Brookbank passing.

I had the absolute pleasure of crossing paths with Stephen on a few occasions?through photography. I first met with him at a summer job I had at a photo lab in Toronto in 1999. The owner was nuts, and there was a lot of crazy. But I always felt better and reassured with Stephen's support. He was always a kind patient guide when it came to technical stuff, and always had a clear and positive perspective?when it came to navigating the circumstances and people we worked with. I am still SO grateful?for his guidance?at that time. That experience genuinely had a major impact on my life having experienced the extremes of personalities working in the photography scene in Toronto. It hammered home the point that this industry was just always going to be hard to work in, but there were diamonds in the rough.

If you're interested in Stephens work as a photographer, I just posted the story we produced featuring his work from our 2019 'Resilience of Analog' issue - HERE, and his website - HERE.

When I heard Stephen was working at NSCAD in the photography department, I thought, "lucky students!"

This news very separately intersected with an interaction with a Toronto-based high school photo educator. To be clear, I don't know her well, and she doesn't know me. My sadness comes via her comments made in a recent Readers Survey we just launched via photoED magazine.

My heart aches for her students. All of her feedback our the survey asking questions about our work on the magazine was negative, and her views on what we do at the magazine simply do NOT impress her in any way. From giving us a 4/ 10 for General Impressions around the editorial content, to describing the publication as "unprofessional" and "a waste of time." I totally get it that our publication is not for everyone. But reading further into her comments it became clear, she hasn't actually spent any time reading the magazine (her subscription ended in 2019) and she's beyond removed from understanding the future of work in photography herself (suggesting articles on dead themes such as stock photography, and the A.I. implications for the stock industry.) photoED is just not that magazine. I'm OK with that entirely, as are many of our supportive readers.

This particular educator would have found our publication free via an annual Canadian photo educators conference that had its last iteration in 2015. Since, the previous publisher (a photography educator) has retired, and the publication has evolved from instructional content for educators towards a general audience fine art and inspiration periodical. And, the LAST photography magazine in Canada. I'm sure she has been busy, as she has not followed our evolution, nor that of the photography publishing niche in Canada.

She also does not wish to pay for any content as she "Didn't feel it was worth the money." Again, I know that education budgets are insane, but instilling into young minds that local creative content has no value, also makes me kinda sad.

What's making me really sad in seeing her responses to our survey, is her lack of vision and resource to support her students creatively. High school photography classes (in my view) are an exciting place to share ideas and get inspired. Technology will change, the business of becoming a future #ContentCreator doesn't require formal education, or a magazine article. She is a gatekeeper in a leadership position to discuss ideas, and present opportunities. To simply TALK about process', images and ideas and their implications can offer a profound moment to learners at any age.

Immediately, I think of young artists I know doing incredible creative work that would suffer in her classroom. Alexander McLeod , Sage Szkabarnicki-Stuart, Liam Mackenzie, Hayley Eyre, Djenabé Edouard , Stephane Alexis , and many more.

As you may know, photoED magazine submissions are open to anyone at any level of their photography experience. I've had many folks comment over the years, that just getting a small photo published in our magazine (in PRINT!) was considered an honour and a first step for many creative folks, a small but meaningful validation of their vision and talent. This particular educators' students simply won't have access to an introduction to this opportunity.

I love sharing the ideas that come our way through incredible educators like Castlebrooke Secondary's Grade 12 teacher Andrew Craig + Mount Allison University's Karen Stentaford (read: "Radical approaches to teaching photography"). I had a blast recently visiting a class at Cameron Heights in Kitchener lead by Colin Boyd Shafer and Conan Stark . All these teachers make the point that their students are always WELCOME to submit work and reach out to connect with me at the magazine.

At schools and photography classes across Canada, folks like Eric Stewart Karen Ruet Rafael Goldchain Akemi Matsubuchi Annie Briard Michele Crockett Denni Russel Tobi Asmoucha Anna Wilson and many more inspire their students with ideas and facilitation of creative explorations in photography. Not PhotoShop techniques and trends, or her other suggestion, "how to market oneself in a world where everyone thinks they are a photographer." (Does a high school kid really need to spend time on either of these topics? I'm sure the school of #TikTok has these lessons covered.)

I have flashbacks now to my own experiences at Ryerson being told I wouldn't go anywhere in photography with my poor grades in Densitometry, or presenting my Masters thesis to a member of the RMIT faculty (an expert in PhotoShop) who declared my work to be "boring" - because no PhotoShop was involved to "jazz it up." Neither of these guys would likely remember their words, but obviously I very clearly do. Formative years in education can leave deep imprints. Educators can sometimes make - or break a creative spirit.

Stephen Brookbanks' NSCAD local community clearly felt he was there as an inspiration and support for their creative endeavours. (Read the NSCAD statement here)

"Photo student Melissa Naef remembers Stephen as an incredible technician, photographer, mentor, and friend."

That's exactly how I remember him. I hope you too have been lucky enough to have had a gentle, positive, creative guide to share your photography path for even a short but impactful time, as Stephen Brookbank did for so many.