I’m a thirty somethin’ mamma, photographer, activist and lover of the outdoors. I grew up in bustling Montréal, Québec, and have been on the West Coast of Canada since 2005. I live in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) – a smallish city on Vancouver island, surrounded by awe-inspiring landscapes. I received my education and most of my professional experience in Montréal. I have been photographing professionally for over 15 years. I am inspired daily by great conversation, my daughter, friends, laughter, food, magazines, books, music, film, and the outdoors. As I grow as a mom, partner, friend and visual artist, so does my appreciation for spirituality, sustainability and well-being. Welcome to my blog!
On September 23rd, 2011, Cook Culture will be hosting a group of 40 ladies, for a foodie event NOT to be missed! Here follows the details:
$50 a person
ADVANCE SALES ONLY
40 ladies supporting a fabulous cause! The absolutely amazing chef, Dwane McIsaac (www.passioneatfoods.com), will tantalize our palates with an array of dishes prepared using local, in-season ingredients. Wine and bevvies included! Bring your appetite and come mingle!
Last Wednesday, August 10th, Delaney Tosh, Carolyne Taylor and the Dirty Wall Project’s Kane Ryan, organized the launch of the Girls Can Be Women’s Collaborative project. The beautiful evening sun streaming though the large windows of one of my favourite venues in Victoria, the Union Pacific Coffee Company, set the stage for an inspiring event. I encourage everyone to check out the Dirty Wall Project and learn about all the amazing things happening in the slums of Mumbai with the help of the project. The Girls Can Be collaborative is the DWP’s newest initiative. The idea behind this project is to allow more young girls the opportunity to go to school by creating an income alternative for the families, in the form of a women’s cooperative, creating a safe and healthy environment for women to gather and create goods to be sold internationally, gaining them a job and a fair wage. The cooperative will be annexed to a school already in place, and allow the young girls of the women’s collaborative to attend school while their mothers are at work. Part of the mandate of the collaborative will also be to donate a percentage of their goods to other women in need in Canada. Absolutely amazing. If you are interested in getting involved in the project, please contact Carolyne Taylor (carolyne@24carrotlearning.com, 250-479-4235). There is a group leaving for India in January, to visit the slum and help with the collaborative and other projects organized by DWP.
For the complete set of images from the evening, please go to the Girls Can Be facebook page. Thank you!
On Monday August 8th, my good friend and owner of yoUnlimited, Carolyne Taylor hosted a very special luncheon with the absolutely stunning Tera Warner, founder of the WISH foundation (Women’s International Summit for Health), Raw Divas and Raw Mom. A sassy, down-to-earth, funny, inspirational woman, Tera blessed us with her voice and her wisdom over lunch at a private residence in Victoria. Please visit my Facebook Page for all the images. Here are a few of my favourites!
I am super excited to announce that I will be one of the presenters at the next local Pecha Kucha night, to be held on June 6, 2011 at the Victoria Event Centre (VEC) on Broad Street. I am still putting the final touches on my presentation and I am not letting anyone on the details! The evening will also double as a fundraiser for the VEC, raising funds for a well-needed new sound system.
For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure to experience Pecha Kucha, here follows a description from their website:
“PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.
It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat”, it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.”
It is AWESOME! Come early though because the tickets do sell out fast! Doors open at 6:30pm. Come say hi!
On Thursday March 10th I awoke to the news that the world had suffered yet another natural disaster. I watched stunned, as most of us did, at images coming out of Japan. Our world is fragile, and for some reason, it always takes these catastrophic events to remind us of its fragility. In one moment, everything that we take for granted can be taken from us. The silliness of our daily rants seem so absurd…
I thought of a family, much like mine, and thought of how devastating it would be to lose everything that “means” something to us – our home, our things, our art, our work, our quality of life, or in the worst case scenario, the tragic loss of loved ones. I immediately felt compelled to help. I joined a group of local concerned citizens, and together over coffee and social media, we got the ball moving on a family-friendly fundraising event to be held in a week. The event is called HOPE LOVE JAPAN.
WHAT: HOPE LOVE JAPAN – an afternoon inspired by Japanese tradition, with music by Masako Hockey and Satomi Edwards, tea service and Japanese blessing. The afternoon will feature a silent auction, with incredible products and services donated by local businesses. There will also be a photo-booth set up (photographs by moi by donation), and a children’s craft area hosting a 1000 cranes for Japan craft project, as well as a Support Japan 2011 t-shirt sale. Admission is by donation (suggested minimum donation $20).
WHEN: SUNDAY MARCH 27, 2011, FROM 1PM TO 5PM
WHERE: PARKSIDE VICTORIA RESORT AND SPA, ATRIUM, 810 HUMBOLT STREET, VICTORIA BC
2nd year anniversary! Looking forward to the next one coming up at the end of February (more details to follow shortly. For more information on the Girl’s Night Mixer, please visit the website: www.girlsnightmixer.ca. If you are not yet on the mailing list, please contact me via the Mixer’s email address: veronique@girlsnightmixer.ca.
As you may have heard by now, a well-known Victoria family’s one month old daughter, Molly Campbell, was just diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. As wee Molly starts the battle to save her life, the community is gathering to help raise funds to help this family cope with living expenses. I am participating in a silent auction that has been organized at Koffi, a neighbourhood coffee shop at 1441 Haultain street (250-298-7878). If you have been thinking of booking a photo session with me, this is your chance to do so and help a family in need. Bids are welcome from Jan 5th to Jan 16th. A community event will be held on Jan 16th from 2-4pm (auction closes at 4pm). Thank you for doing all you can to help this family in need, and please continue to spread the word.
For all out-of-towners (USA, Vancouver, Montreal…), should you wish to bid on the photo session, please note that I will honour the certificate upon my next visit! Please let me know if you wish to bid or donate and I will put you in touch with the organizer.
Molly’s parents are documenting her progress at www.molly-campbell.com, where suporters from Victoria and around the world have logged on to show their support.
In September of 2009, Jeremy Cowart, a commercial photographer out of LA, had the brilliant idea of reuniting photographers, make-up artists and volunteers worldwide to create an annual philanthropic photographic day. A day where we can collaborate to GIVE BACK to our community, to people in need.
Out of an idea came Help-Portrait, and 3 months later, the first global Help-Portrait day happened. On December 12, 2009, 10,000 photographers and volunteers delivered over 42,000 images to people in need in 42 countries!
This year’s global event is scheduled for December 4th, 2010. The internet is alive with the buzz around Help-Portrait! It’s incredible to follow the live chatter of photographers planning events on Twitter and on Facebook.
The task at hand is simple:
- find people in need
- take their picture
- print their picture
- deliver their picture
Voila!
This year will be my second year participating in this fabulous event. I cannot begin to convey the immense pleasure I had creating and delivering images to the amazing people I met last year because of the event. I call out to my fellow photographers, to ralley together and create a special moment for someone else this year I guarantee that the personal satisfaction you will receive from that simple gesture will stay with you forever!
I invite you to check out the following links and videos, and get inspired, get moving and create!
Involve your network, get the word out and see the response! There is no limit to what these events can look like! Involve your local florists, hair dressers, make-up artists, massage therapists, bakery, coffee shop…… SO many people want to help!
HELP-PORTRAIT official site: help-portrait.com (tons of resources, downloadable graphics and information)
HELP-PORTRAIT 2010 promo video:
HELP SPREAD THE WORD FOR THE LOCAL EVENTS I AM PLANNING:
