ART OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY / THE STORY - PART 1
Download the book in PDF version
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ART OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY
By Bernard Bujold
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Table of Contents
PART 1 - THE STORY
Presentation
Chapter 1 - My First Photography
Chapter 2 - My cameras
Chapter 3 - Remembrance through photography
Chapter 4 - The art of the portrait
Chapter 5 - The art of the landscape
Chapter 6 - The art of reporting
Chapter 7 - My best pictures
Chapter 8 - The future of photography
Chapter 9 - A birthday gift…
Chapter 10 - The list
Chapter 11- Reading suggestions
A selection of my best photos.
ART OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY (June 28, 2021)
VOIR ÉDITION EN FRANÇAIS DU LIVRE:
Legal deposit Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du
Québec
ISBN number: 978-2-9821799-3-6
Published July 4, 2023
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This is a book about my vision of the art of photography.
The creation of images is for me a passion that I have had since my adolescence and I have never lost it.
This book in the first part is a personal reflection on photography, its evolution, and a kind of story of my journey that I wrote as if I were telling my two children. This text is not a guide to becoming a photographer but my story of a photographer among others in a historical and captivating time.
In part two of the book, I am offering you some of my best pictures among the thousands in my collection.
I dedicate this book to my two children David-Bernard and Stéphanie, as well as to his two daughters Ava and Emma, hoping that I will give them an inspiration to discover in their turn the pleasure and the love of photography.
Have a nice read!
Bernard Bujold
July 4, 2023
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PRESENTATION
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I have photographed, in the course of my life as a photographer, many international events such as the equestrian competitions of the Bromont International, the Canadian Tennis Open (Rogers Cup) and the Canadian F1 Grand Prix as well as hundreds of personalities such as Isabelle Adjani, Céline Dion, René Angélil, Gérard Depardieu, Julie Depardieu, Sophia Loren, Brian Mulroney, Stephen Harper, Rafael Nadal, André Agassi, Donald Trump and many others.
(See the list in Archives https://www.lestudio1.com/StudioBernardAccueil.html )
But my most beautiful pictures are probably the quiet and intimate ones like simple sunsets, trees in the forest or simply the friend offering me his smile.
My first passion has always been photography!
I estimate my collection of photographs to be over 100,000 images taken since my teenage years, on film, slides or digital.
My mother Anita Cyr, an amateur photographer, was my inspiration. Every year, she photographed the family in front of the house with her KODAK 620 film camera.
See her collection of photos on her web page https://www.lestudio1.com/AnitaCyr.html )
Among the great photographers of the world who have been my teachers, my favorite is
Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002). I met him a few times at the Château Laurier where he had his studio and when I was living in Ottawa (1984). He is still a source of deep inspiration to me today. We don't say it publicly, but anyone who knows his technique knows that he was a precursor of Photoshop and he had a full-time assistant whose job was to retouch with brushes and colors the glass plates used to print his photos.
As far as photographic equipment is concerned, I learned with a simple Kodak Instamatic 126 and despite its simplicity, this camera worked miracles and some of my best pictures were made with it.
Afterwards, I discovered 35mm film and I used a Minolta X-700 for a long time before moving on to various Nikon cameras including the F5 and a few digital cameras including the Nikon D300.
I then used much lighter tools whose main goal was to take full advantage of digital and social media on the Internet and especially to have a light camera and always with me. I used a good dozen of Canon G Powershot compact models.
But today in 2021, the devices I consider the most efficient for my photography are the Apple iPad and iPhone.
Of course, there are also the famous programs Photoshop, Affinity, Apple Photo and Google Image for image processing. All photographers, at least all the ones I work with, transform their images after capture.
I love photography and for me, this form of expression is a way to reach and discover the soul, living forms like humans or animals, or fixed forms like objects or landscapes, and this everywhere in the world!
"If the eyes are the mirror of the soul for humans and animals, photography is a look at the soul in all forms!"
Photography is a beautiful art, for me the most beautiful art!
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My mother Anita Cyr - (1922-2005) My mother's camera, a Kodak film format 620  Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002) my master in photography |
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1- MY FIRST PHOTOGRAPHY
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I grew up surrounded by toys, especially small figurines.
I used to imagine stories worthy of the cinema featuring the characters represented by my figurines.
These childhood games have greatly influenced my photography and many of my photos still use figurines or objects that become animated in my photos.
My very first photo, which I remember proudly showing to my family, was of a plaster moose that I had placed in the greenery surrounding my parents' home in Gaspésie in Saint-Siméon de Bonaventure in 1972. My uncle (Germain Bujold), a moose hunter, was impressed and asked me where such a beast was hiding. I quickly told him the set up...
He was disappointed, but his admiration for my photography remained and he warmly congratulated me for my staging saying that he was convinced that the moose was alive and well.
My first photo of the moose in plaster was in black and white, but I would shoot it again the following year in 1973 on color film with my Instamatic.
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Black and white photo of the moose in plaster (1972) |
Photo on color film of the moose in plaster (1973)
My first camera, a used Kodak Brownie and film 620
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A camera is the essential tool without which photography would not be possible.
Leonardo da Vinci around 1515 is credited with the first beginnings of the concept of the camera and the management of light with what was called "camera obscura".
The term photography results from a series of numerous technological and technical innovations in the fields of optics, chemistry, mechanics, electricity, electronics and computing. The photography is initially based on the biological mechanism of the human eye.
Evolution will take a few centuries and the first cameras will only arrive
on August 19, 1839 at the Institut de France when Jacques Louis Daguerre disclosed the first photographic process to which he gave his name: the “daguerreotype”.
My first camera around 1972 was a used Brownie 620, a film format comparable to my mother's, that a family friend had given me and that I had to completely dismantle and clean.
The black and white pictures of the moose were taken with this camera.
But I quickly acquired my first new camera around 1973, an Instamatic X15.
I still remember ordering it from the Eaton's store catalog and receiving it a week later in the mail.
This camera was really the one that made me love photography and with which I could discover the pleasure of creating photographic images.
My first camera as a new one, a Kodak Instamatic X-15 with film cassette 126
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In photography, there are two schools. The one of those who swear by their cameras and equipment and the other school where the camera has little importance and it is the imagination and the eye of the photographer that determines the final result of the image.
Personally, I am between the two schools of thought.
It takes a minimum of technology to capture and record light well, but beyond a certain quality, the difference is invisible to the eye. This is especially true if you add to the work of capturing the light the work of processing it through a program like Photoshop, Affinity, Apple or Google.
I started my black and white photography with Brownie 620 film.
You had to mail your films for processing to companies like Direct Films and two weeks later you would receive an envelope with the photos on paper.
The experience was long, but exciting. The anticipation and expectation of seeing the results of our photos was like an extension of the joy of photography.
When I acquired my first new Kodak Instamatic camera, I also switched to color, as the concept of Instamatics with film on cassette encouraged the development of color paper prints by labs. I would also do slide film with Instamatic.
I loved the Instamatic technology and would never have left it if I had not been forced to do it when I became a journalist for the local television station in Gaspésie (CHAU-TV Carleton).
At the time, television reports were illustrated with still images in 35 mm slide film format that the technician would develop on location at the station the same day. As a young journalist, I was invited to take pictures of my reports, but I had to use 35 mm film. So I bought a 35mm camera from a local jewelry store. A fixed lens model, a MAMIYA 135. The technician at the TV station wasn't too impressed with the camera itself, but it worked in 35mm format and that was more than enough for my reporting needs.
My first 35 mm camera, a Japanese model MAMIYA 135
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I was worried about the switch to 35mm, but I managed to discover it quietly even if it required more work to adjust the camera compared to Kodak Instamatic technology.
With 35mm film, one had to evaluate the light to adjust both mechanisms (lens opening and shutter speed) before shooting.
With Instamatic, all you had to do was determine if there was enough natural light or use a flash cube.
With the 35mm, it was like driving a car with manual gears...
My first basic 35mm camera however opened up the world of photography and led me to a more sophisticated camera, a Minolta X-700 model.
I learned a lot about photography with the Minolta X-700, purchased at Woolco in Moncton in 1982.
I will still use this camera until 1997, 15 years later.
My camera Minolta X-700
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The advantage of the X-700, a 35mm film camera, was that I could change the lenses and use zoom lenses.
It was a very powerful camera considering the technology of the time, and in the 1980s Minolta was very active in the camera market. The X-700 model was one of the
top of the line cameras of the brand.
I used this camera for more than 15 years, between 1982 and 1997.
I loved the possibilities that this camera offered me.
I regretted selling it when I bought my Nikon F5.
I experienced several important moments in my life while using the Minolta X-700.
The birth of my children in 1982 and 1983; the election of Brian Mulroney as Prime Minister of Canada on September 4, 1984 in Baie-Comeau; my son David took his first picture with this camera; and I photographed Pierre Péladeau's birthday on April 10, 1997 when he was offered a visit from an actress impersonating Marilyn Monroe...
Brian and Mila Mulroney - Baie-Comeau ( Septembre 4, 1984)
Bernard Bujold, self-portrait - Ottawa (October 1984)
Anniversary of Pierre Péladeau- Montréal ( Avril 11, 1997)
First photography taken by my son David in Ottawa (1985)
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If Minolta was respectable among professional photographers, Nikon was more respected and considered truly professional!
When I was assistant to the Prime Minister of Canada in 1984, I often spoke with the official photographer who used two Nikon FM2 cameras, cameras that I admired and coveted.
Nikon FM2 - 1984
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However, I will only acquire my first Nikon towards the end of 1997, an amateur but performing model, an F90, a 35 mm film camera.
Why did I wait so long between 1982 and 1997?
The use of my Minolta was more than sufficient for my needs.
My acquisition of a Nikon camera in 1997 was to join a community rather than to fill a real need in camera performance.
It is important to understand that when we photograph, during our capture, the subject and other photographers tend to judge our value according to our equipment.
I remember a photographer who explained to the salesman that he wanted to buy a high-end Nikon only to comfort his clients who did not take him seriously because he was using a camera of another lesser known brand.
Moreover, in press conferences, a photographer who did not use a high-end camera was perceived by his colleagues as an amateur.
So I bought a Nikon to look a little more professional, but the Prime Minister's official photographer had always told me that I didn't need a Nikon camera to be a good photographer.
Let's say however, regarding my first Nikon, that the power of the flash recommended by the camera manufacturer, a Nikon SB-26, came to improve a lot the possibilities of my indoor photography, compared to the possibilities of the Minolta.
My acquisition had not been a total waste...
Nikon F-90
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Camera equipment is like a drug for many photographers and a number of them always hope to improve their results if they make a new purchase.
Personally, I have always loved visiting camera stores to try out new models and watch for bargains, but I never wanted to go in the direction of the most powerful or expensive cameras. It was also a question of budget. For me photography was a hobby until 1997 and not a professional job.
It is sometimes true that a better camera will improve our photography, but generally, image quality is more a matter of the photographer's vision and style than technology.
I like to say that there are two ways to do photography.
One way is to have fun, like driving a sports car, and the other way is to produce an image according to our vision and in which the tools (camera, lenses and flash) are only complementary.
We could identify the first way by the term: "MAKING PHOTOS"; and the second way by the term: "MAKING PHOTOS".
During the 2000's, it is the reputation of Nikon cameras on film, and the desire to impress my fellow photographers, that led me to get a top of the line camera, an F5 model with a 70-200mm zoom lens. The goal was also to be well equipped to do reportage photography as I was making a return to professional journalism.
The power of the camera was obvious, but I quickly realized that all this equipment was too much to carry, especially for someone who does reportage photography. Imagine having to walk around an asphalt racetrack like the Gilles Villeneuve racetrack in Montreal with a camera bag weighing easily 7 kilograms (15 pounds) under a hot sun...
All the photographers also complained about the weight of their bag, but some saw it as a tool to get through a crowd or to keep away other journalists who wanted to get in front of them while the bag served as a shield...
A friend of mine, a former official photographer at the Montreal World Film Festival, once told me that he regularly used his heavy camera with a 70-200 mm lens as a tool to get through a crowd...
Nikon F5 and camera bag
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I can say that I lived through the demise of film photography and the birth of digital photography. It all happened in the space of a few months in 2004.
To prove it, I only have to look at the date of the beginning of my digital archives
File number 1 was photographed (date) .
I was very shy in adopting digital photography despite the fact that I recognized the advantage.
The main difference in digital is the reduction in the cost of the photo operation.
With film photography, you have to buy the film and have it developed in a lab, whereas digital photography is virtually free. The limit of 24 or 36 exposures per film is also eliminated.
On average during a photo shoot with film, I could use three or four 24-shot films (75 to 100 photos). It cost an average of about 20 dollars for the 24 exposure film and its development by a lab.
In digital, on a memory card, I could easily take up to 200 or 300 images and without any development cost.
Moreover, one can check the quality of the images on the spot and the processing after capture can be done immediately with the computer.
My first digital camera was a Canon Elph with which I experimented with photos for no other reason than to have fun, but I quickly realized that the future was in this technology especially with the evolution of the internet (social media will only come later in 2005-2006)
I was sad and opposed to the abandonment of film photography, as I had equipped myself quite thoroughly for traditional photography with significant financial investments of several thousand dollars.
A single high-end camera was worth up to $3,000 in 2004 and lenses were worth an average of $1,000 each. The average cost of a photographer's equipment bag at the time was between $5,000 and $10,000.
Moreover, in 2004, digital cameras were just starting to be used and their capacity was not yet that of film cameras.
I acquired a few Nikon digital models including a D70 and D200, but I stopped at the D300, a good quality model in the Nikon brand.
However, for several years, I heard in discussions that many other photographers had left Nikon to join Canon whose possibilities in terms of reading the light were preferred. Nikon cameras have always been considered more robust and perfect for reportage photography but the color rendering of images made by Canon cameras was better appreciated by photographers who said that Canon's light management was superior to Nikon's.
So I wanted to take advantage of the change of era in photo technology, the transition from film to digital, to try Canon digital cameras.
After reading a report in Paris Match where a photographer said she did all her photography with a Canon G9, I decided to try this model and I bought my first Canon G10, a fixed lens camera.
I was definitely seduced and, even if I missed the Nikon F5 days, I gradually abandoned the Nikon brand to adopt Canon permanently.
I would use about ten different models of the Canon G series and with each addition, the capacity of the camera was increased either in terms of focus or light management.
A model like the G3 even offers a built-in zoom lens that can reach 600mm. I was able to capture the moon with this model.
My last purchase was a G7X Mark II, a very powerful and very compact camera. You can easily carry it in a jacket or pants pocket and always have it with you.
The adage among photographers is that "the best camera is the one you have with you when the image comes to you."
The Canon G7X fits this need perfectly.
Furthermore, one of the great advantages of digital technology is the speed with which images can be processed after capture. Photoshop's popularity definitely jumped in the 2005s as almost every photographer adopted it.
As for me, I am an avid user of Photoshop, Affinity and Google Image technology.
All my photography revolves around post processing.
This post-capture processing technology is not new in itself, but its accessibility is.
Photoshop can be compared to a painter's studio with brushes and colors.
The Photoshop concept is inspired by drawing and painting.
Let's remember that Yousuf Kash used to paint his photo negatives and even my mother used the same concept because she used to draw on her photos, especially hair that she added to my father.
My father was insulted when he found out about it.
Bernard Bujold - self-portrait (2005)
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Some of my digital cameras including my favorite model the Canon G7X mark II
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Digital photography definitely took over the world when cell phones started to invade the market around 2010. None of the camera manufacturer brands could slow down the conquest of photography by the cell phone companies.
Cellular technology went beyond simple telephony to be a photography tool with powerful built-in cameras using computer technology rather than simple light capture.
In my case, I started out in cell phone photography with a simple iPod that had the same capabilities as an iPhone but without the ability to communicate over the phone network.
I quickly got a real iPhone 5 that I did not sign up with a phone company, but used only for its camera and photo capabilities.
An iPhone is smaller than a compact camera like the Canon G7X and its ease of transport is limitless.
Another advantage is the discretion of the iPhone.
For street photography, it is impossible to pass for a pedestrian if you use a camera like the Nikon F5. On the other hand, with an iPhone, I was able to take pictures in places where I would never have been able to with a conventional camera. The iPhone is perfectly discreet for photography in public places.
When film photography started to give way to digital, many photographers were worried that their craft and the photography industry itself would disappear.
They were right about one half of the equation, i.e. the exclusivity of their craft, but not the disappearance of photography.
Today in 2021, there have never been so many photographs taken all over the world because humans in all countries have a cell phone with a camera.
Photography has never been so popular and accessible.
Add to cell phone technology the presence of social media in our daily lives to make photography as common and essential as eating or drinking coffee.
The power of sensors on cell phones is increasingly matching the capacity of conventional cameras and soon cell phones will surpass conventional cameras.
Let's not forget that a device like the iPhone is first and foremost a compact computer that processes the image immediately during its capture. A conventional camera does not offer this kind of technology, but it could have. It is a lack of vision or a miscalculated decision that prevented them from doing it.
Today, it is too late and all camera manufacturers are moribund in front of their customers.
Kodak was the first to invent digital technology, but the company did not want to destroy its film market and did not develop its digital presence. Canon and Nikon took the place, but when cell phone companies started to introduce cameras in their phones in order to reduce the bulky size of conventional cameras, these same camera manufacturers such as Canon and Nikon refused to occupy the market preferring to stay in conventional cameras and believing that this way they would protect their market. It was the same mistake that Kodak made in the face of digital.
Today in 2021, Kodak is no longer in photography; Minolta has been merged with Konika and there was talk at one point that Nikon would be bought by Sony, which has not happened yet...
Recently a camera store in Montreal sponsored a photo contest in a major media. The particularity that caught my eye was that the contest was for the best cell phone pictures...
I thought it was funny that they were offering traditional equipment as prizes to the winners.
Imagine the situation, a company selling cameras acting as a sponsor of a cell phone contest!
iPhone by Apple
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3- REMEMBRANCE THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY
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The main objective of photography is to immortalize images and create a memory beyond the present moment.
A meeting of people; an artistic or sporting event; the scenery of a vacation; a success or a tragedy in our lives; etc.
My first souvenir photos were those taken of my father and mother sharing moments of life together. Later on, my two children will be the focus of my souvenir photos.
Souvenir photography is the most romantic of all photographs, because it directly reaches the people who lived the moments captured in the images.
Souvenir photos are not universal like the other categories, but they are probably the most popular, because vanity is a flaw, but can also become a quality...
However, the romance of the memory is sometimes different between the intention and the reality.
Indeed, I remember an anecdote from the days of my Instamatic and color slide photography.
It was my uncle who suggested to me to change from film to slide, telling me that it was the future of photography. I bought a Kodak Carousel projector and some editing magazines. I even wrote some texts and recorded them on a tape recorder.
According to my uncle, the trick was to arrange our slides in a presentation order and show them in front of a group. "The days were over of paper pictures and the effort of looking at them by hand, one by one." my uncle said...
At my first screening, I had gathered about ten of my family members, including my mother who hosted the evening. The screening lasted about fifteen minutes and when I turned the lights back on, two or three of the guests were fast asleep, including my mother who claimed to have enjoyed the screening very much and only dozed off towards the end!
At another session, the projector lamp went out immediately after the lights were turned on, with the result that there was no projection for the guests that night...
My passion for slide shows lasted for about a year and I returned to film and paper photos filed in the envelopes of the development lab.
My father and mother sharing a Christmas meal (1974)
My father and mother in the living room (1974)
Breakfast in the kitchen, me and my brother André (1976)
My Kodak Carousel slide projector (1976)
Envelopes from development labs
paper photos
Photo through the window of my parents' house
in Gaspésie (1974)
Photo from the entrance road in front of my parents' house
in Gaspésie (1974)
My father in his workshop (1974)
My father hunting (1974)
My father in front of my radio microphone when I was a journalist
at the local radio station in Sept-Iles, CKCN - (1975)
"WALKING IN ACADIA"
My two children in Moncton - (1991)
"DANCING ON THE LAKE"
My children in front of the lake at Mont Tremblant - (1993)
Photo of my father on which my mother
had drawn hair - (July 1958)
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4 - THE ART OF PORTRAIT
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The key to a successful portrait is the look in the subject's eyes.
In the art of portraiture on humans or animals, everything starts with the eyes!
For things, you have to find the point that represents the soul and identity of the thing.
Portraiture does not only include pictures of faces, but also of things.
I would say that the definition of a portrait is to look at the image and frame it in a close-up.
I love taking portraits, but I've found that sometimes this kind of photography eliminates the beauty and detail of the background of the image to focus solely on the foreground of the image before us. This is called reducing the depth of field (a high lens opening (like 1.8) and increasing the blurred effect in the background.
The "portrait" function on cell phones is particularly sensitive in this regard and often I prefer to get closer to the image, but keep the "still" function on my camera especially when I also want to see the background details.
I see portraiture as an exercise in getting closer to the subject, not an artistic exercise.
On the other hand, on cell phones, it is possible in portrait mode to adjust the light and to choose the studio effect, i.e. a black background behind the subject (see photo below Ulysses and the rock).
Bernard Bujold - Self-portrait on film (1998)
Bernard Bujold - Self-portrait by iPhone (2020)
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Ulysse and the rock (December 2020) |
Spindle roll on rock (December 2020)
« C'tait ben avant d'comprendre que tout
Tient avec d'la broche »
Chanson Sur mon épaule
- Les Cowboys fringants
Nathalie Bondil and her daughterAngèle -
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts ( Décember, 2008)
Squirrel in front of the camera... (December 2020)
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5 - THE ART OF LANDSCAPE
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Photographing a landscape is the genre that most closely resembles the traditional art of painters. In fact, the legendary photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson said he was a painter at heart and liked drawing better than photography.
Landscape photography is magical, because it communicates directly with the planet.
Bernard Bujold and Ulysse at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
in front of their two favorite paintings:
"MOONLIGHT" by Henri-Joseph Harpignie and
"LANDSCAPE (WITH MARINE)" by Georges Michel.
"MOONLIGHT by Henri-Joseph Harpignie
"LANDSCAPE (WITH MARINE)"by Georges Michel
Samples of landscape photos
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6 - THE ART OF REPORTING
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There are two basic requirements for a successful photo story.
To be present in front of the action as it happens; and to be in the right place physically in front of that action.
I have done several photo reports and the first thing I determine upon my arrival at the scene of the event is to determine the best place that will allow me to obtain a unique, complete and especially different image from those of my fellow photographers present on site.
Many of my photo reports have been in the field of sports (horses and tennis) but I also love to cover press conferences of personalities, especially artists (cinema and entertainment) as well as big events.
The important thing as a photographer is to impose our vision of the image and never let the subject determine the angle and the message of the photo.
As much in photography as in the written or spoken press, the authors of the event will often want to impose their theme. The good journalist imposes his own theme.
It is easier for a photographer to choose his angles of reportage than it is for a journalist because the photographer controls the camera with his choice of look.
Personally, I have another rule: I never photograph a subject I don't like.
Quebec newspaper magnate Pierre Péladeau once told me, "I never give an interview to a journalist who doesn't like me, because he will always find a way to criticize me in his report, no matter how much good will I do!"
It's the same thing in photography.
If a photographer doesn't like a subject, they will instinctively aim their camera to make it look bad.
In my opinion. photography is fundamentally an act of love and I make sure that is always the case with my photographs.
However, I have had incidents and I remember an anecdote in December 2020 when it was the Coronavirus crisis and all the stores were closed. I wanted to photograph the homeless in makeshift tents in front of the Bay store in Montreal. I had to run away because a homeless man started to shout insults at me and he was coming towards me to attack me physically...
I fled to a small park nearby and invoked the protection of the Holy Brother Andre...
I could not have been a war photographer and I never photograph accidents or acts of violence.
Here a some of my reporting photos from books fair, movie festival; press conferences, coronavirus refugees; and even visit of churches and museum...
Bernard Bujold - Tennis Rogers Cup -
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7 - MY BEST PICTURES
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I like to say that my best image in life is the one I take today...
In journalism, we have this philosophy that our value as journalists is equal to the quality of our next story.
This philosophy also applies to photography.
Many of my photographs have made me particularly happy and satisfied, but I'm not one to consider them my final works.
The day we stop thinking about our next photograph, it is also the end of our passion!
Nevertheless, if I had to choose a few photos to make an exhibition, I would choose five or six images among the most significant for me and I would add about ten recent photographs taken during the year preceding the exhibition.
Here is my plan for a virtual exhibition, which I offer to you.
Enjoy your visit...
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Selection of six of my best photos
PHOTO NUMBER 1
My photo of Brian and Mila Mulroney taken in Baie-Comeau on September 4, 1984
is particularly important to me.
This image marks the Canadian electoral victory in which I had directly
I had directly collaborated as an organizer.
PHOTO NUMBER 2
This self-portrait was taken a few minutes after my interview for a position in
in the office of Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
At the time, I was filled with the dream of changing the world...
(October 1984 - Ottawa)
PHOTO NUMBER 3
My photo of Pierre Péladeau with an actress invited to greet his birthday is one of the
of the rare photos I took of the Quebec press magnate
when I was his personal assistant from 1991 to 1997.
(April 11, 1997 - Montreal)
PHOTO NUMBER 4
This photo of the rider, the personal friend who introduced me to horses
was inspired by the works of the painter Degas.
All the art of photography is an artistic creation inspired at the beginning
by painters.
PHOTO NUMBER 5
I took many pictures of this horse who had become my best friend.
This picture shows him in full freedom and happy to run.
(Summer 2004 - Bromont)
PHOTO NUMBER 6
This picture of actress Isabelle Adjani was taken at the
Montreal World Film Festival.
Isabelle Adjani had liked my pictures and she had published a dozen of them on her
website. This gesture inspired me to develop and launch
the website LeStudio1.
(September 2004 - Montreal)
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Selection of a dozen photos
representing recent current events
Photos with figurines to illustrate the exploration to the planet Mars
Photo de la Lune avec mon appareil Canon G3 Zoom 600 MM
Bernard Bujold Self-portrait (2018)
Small miniature car representing the American president Donald J. Trump (2016)
The three photos of the mansion above were taken from the window of the gym
where I was training in the winter of 2020, at the height of the Coronavirus crisis.
There are a good representation of both the isolation and the hope of the world.
Self-portrait of my vaccination ( First shot ) with the Pfizer Coronavirus vaccine
received at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal
(March 16, 2021 - 5pm)
Self-portrait of my vaccination ( Second shot ) with the Pfizer Coronavirus vaccine
received at Salaberry-de-Valleyfield
(June 2, 2021 - 5pm)
2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Team Les Canadiens - Bell Centre - Montreal
(June 2021)
Maurice Richard -
Bell Centre - Montreal
(June 2021)
THE MEMORY IS ETERNAL...
I love photographing women's faces.
In fact, once or twice a year, when the seasons change, I like to remember
old lovers.
There have been at least 5 or 6 special women in my life that I liked, and who liked me, but for all sorts of reasons, the relationship died in time.
Often I go on Facebook to see where these former lovers are in their lives today. Most of them have families and, like me, they have grown older...
I sometimes wonder what our lives would have been like if we had continued together.
But I tell myself that in the end, love is a dream and that only the memory of the dream, like the photographic image, remains eternally romantic!
THE WAVE OF THE GASPÉSIE...
When I was 20 years old, I had to make a choice between staying in Gaspésie
or leaving for the big city.
We were at the time two young colleagues of the same age and with the same ambitions and we were both hosts at the local television CHAU-TV in Carleton.
He stayed and I left.
I often wonder about my departure and sometimes ask myself what my life
would have been like if I had stayed?
I had chosen to apply Shakespeare's phrase in the text Julius Caesar:
"There is a wave on the ocean of life, which if caught at the right time on shore will lead the ship to new lands full of hope and promise."
Over the years, my colleague became the director at the local television station
and he is still there today.
I, unlike in the romantic legend of Odysseus in the Odyssey, after my travels, the wave forgot
to take me back to my native land, and I sometimes feel nostalgic about it...
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8 - THE FUTURE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
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The art of photography is basically the management of light with a camera.
Light is like rain.
There are light rains and torrential rain storms.
So it is with light.
There are dim lights and bright lights.
Light consists of electromagnetic waves, characterized by its length and corresponding to a level of energy and intensity.
The light always propagates at the same speed.
We say that a light is strong when it is direct and has not been scattered or diffracted. It propagates in a straight line and is characterized by dense shadows with a strong contrast and very sharp contours. This is the case for example of sunlight during the day on a clear day. A light source can also be diffuse and indirect coming from a wall or a surface like a lake or snow in winter.
The art of photography is to know how to read the light and record it correctly on your camera.
However, cameras have become very sophisticated and they do almost all the calculations of light management for us to the point of creating images that have nothing to compare with reality as seen with the naked eye.
Cell phones in particular have become powerful computers that perform a multitude of calculations and take readings of the light. An iPhone can take millions of readings in a few fractions of a second to create an image.
We are very far from the time of my mother with her Brownie camera and a black and white film that she would send by mail to the laboratory for development and printing on paper, and that she could only view one or two weeks later...
The way images are captured is also transformed and personally I am a fan of Live stream feeds and iPad screen captures. The quality of the visuals varies from source to source but I've taken excellent images of Donald Trump and Pope Francis with an iPad from a Life stream internet projection.
Another new way to capture images is with a drone with a camera attached.
The technology of image processing applications is also incredible.
As an example, I will mention Photoshop's "sky replacement" which allows us to create a sky according to our desire.
Moreover, Photoshop as well as others like Faceapp offer a tool to age, rejuvenate or make a person smile...
Photoshop has even developed a technology that allows you to multiply the degree of pixels in a photo and make, for example, a photo of 12 million pixels a version of 40 million pixels. This means that the camera's sensor is less and less important in terms of its capturing capacity.
It is obvious that the art of photography will be totally transformed again in the next few years and that the limits of creation will be pushed further.
But what will never be replaced is the passion and the love of the image by the followers of photography.
Happy photography and as a former camera salesman wished me:
"Have fun!"
Bernard Bujold - June 28, 2021
Bernard Bujold transformed into an old man
Ulysses in front of a mysterious sky...
Pope Francis - Screenshot (Fox News Easter Mass April 14, 2020)
Donald J. Trump - Screenshot (Fox News - April 2020)
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9 - A BIRTHDAY GIFT...
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June 28th is my birthday.
This photo book is a sort of birthday present for me in 2021, which I gave myself, from me to me, in the form of a French and an English edition.
It is not a photo guide, because I wrote the texts as if I were telling my personal story to my two children David-Bernard and Stephanie and to my two granddaughters Ava and Emma, to whom I dedicated the book.
I told my impressions, anecdotes and my journey in photography.
The book has more than 340 pages and is illustrated with some 400 photos that I have chosen from my collection that I estimate to be more than 100,000 images taken since my adolescence.
I am offering the book to all of you, in PDF format as a free download at the web address mentioned on the hosting site.
I love photography which is my great passion in life but I also have other passions including sports.
For 2021, I marked my birthday at the gym because I love the atmosphere of sports training, a way of life I have adopted since my teenage years. For me, the gym is a place to meditate and, after workouts, to read various media, my all-time favorite being The Wall Street Journal...
I used to read paper format newspapers but now it's on the internet!
This year, I also received as a gift a beautiful picture of my idol Donald Trump, a picture that I will frame and hang prominently in my living room and keep as a kind of icon!
In conclusion, let's never forget that the only thing that counts in life is love and photography is a way to immortalize and share that love!
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THE PHOTO BIRTHDAY GIFT Official portrait of Donald Trump at the Smithsonian Museum National Portrait Gallery (Photo by Pari Dukovic for Time Magazine 2019) |
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10 - THE LIST
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THE LIST BY BERNARD BUJOLD |
Here is THE LIST, a reminder of the names of various subjects, characters, and events that I have photographed over the years.
THE LIST
Anna Kournikova, Monica Seles,Martina Hingis, Julie Depardieu,Sophia Loren, Geneviève Bujold,Isabelle Adjani, Heljon Deruere,
ELTON John, Kent Nagano,Normand Legault,André Agassi, Zachary RichardPaul Martin, Richard Hatfield,Robert De Niro, Ben Weider,Misou Gélinas, Pierre Péladeau,Charles Aznavour, Kathy Reich,Mary Higgins Clark, Anita CyrPaul Roberge, Mario Deslauriers,Roger Deslauriers,The Rolling Stones,Luce Dufault, Mademoiselle X,Charles Dutoit, Carole GagnéAndré Bujold, Yanick Nezet Seguin,Michel Chartrand,Sa majesté Elizabeth II,Luciano Pavarotti, Roger D. LandryPhil Collins, Billy Joel,Bïa, Zilon, Ginette Reno,Francine Grimaldi, Dieudonné,Paul Tellier, Pierre ParadisLéonard Bujold, René LévesqueOmnium Tennis du Maurier,Manon D’inverness, Louis Mathieu,Stéphanie Bujold,Serge Losique,André-Philippe Gagnon,André Bérard, Coupe Rogers AT&T,Le Master de tennis du Canada,Raymond St-Pierre, Bet-e,Michelle Langstone, Charly Sciortino,Rudy Guiliani, Raymond MalenfantGalen Weston, Hilary Weston,Jamie Sale, David Pelletier,Wayne Gretsky, Bernard Derome,Gilles Gougeon, Norman Lester,Lara St-John, Belinda Stronach,Sarah Brightman, Dr Elliott Mechanic,Crise du Verglas,Bruce Springteen, Claude Gingras,Voitures Jean Paul Riopelle,Yves Laroche, Pierre Jasmin,Gilles Vigneault, Michel Phaneuf,Jean-Claude Poitras, Fabienne Larouche,Christiane Charette,Pierre Lalonde,Paulo Coelho, Michel Pagliaro,Bernard Voyer, Mario Dumont,Michel Louvain, Nelly Arcand,Georges Zimbel, Gilles Gougeon,Kevin Parent, Bernard Landry,Chantale Fontaine, Sophie Chiasson,Daniel Langlois, Guy Laliberté,Anne Marie Losique, Bernadette RusgalMélanie et Stéphanie Veilleux (FALBALA)Tarzan de Bromont,Julie Payette, Le Resto Plateau,Commandant Robert Piché,Luc Besson, Amélie Mauresmo,Serena Williams, David Letterman,Micheal Schumacher,Gilbert Rozon, Claude Dubois,Jean-Pierre Ferland,Joseph Ressigno,Catherine Millette,Heidi Hollinger, René Simard,Marie Desjardins, Mathilde Da Silva,Hélène Genest, Nathalie FlynnPascal Briodin, Segolène Gautier,André Chagnon, David Novek,Bob Gainey, André Chagnon,David Novek, Réal Raymond,Penolope Cruze,Vitalli Gambarov, Francine Moreau,Madrigaïa, Mel's Cité du Cinéma, Claude BlanchardMichel Trudel, Veronica Redgrave,Raymond Lévesque, Marguerite BlaisMentake, Caroline NéronAhmed Benbouzid, Martina HingisElizabeth Starinkyj, Lulu Hughes,Simon Carrier, Michel Tremblay,Maurice Richard, Denis Brott,Tuula Hollinger, Michel Rondeau,Jerôme Ferrer, Patrice de Felice,Colin Powell, Dr. Ruth,Herby Moreau, Arielle Dombasle,Alfonso Gagliano, NEeMA,Bettina Forget, Amelia Earhart,Gerald Tremblay,Veronica Redgrave, Roy L. Heenan,Athésia, Le Ritz de Montréal,Maidy Teitelbaum, Geneviève Royer,Santiago Amigorena, Henri Salvador,Laura Porcelli, Sofia Menghini,Leonard Cohen, Bernard PivotMargaret Trudeau, GarouAdam Cohen, Pierre Théberge,Jacques Hébert, Jean Chrétien, Sacha Trudeau,Sophie Grégoire, Justin Trudeau,Caroline Messier, Marie-France Riopel,David Markham,Janette Bertrand,Jocelyne Primeau, Christian Tamborini,Goguie, Caroline Primeau-Tamborini,Mathieu Primeau-TamboriniCaroline Messier, Marie-France Riopel,Oboro, Marie Marais, Daniel Dion,Arnold Schwarzeneger ;Hélène Boudeau; IAMHELY;
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11 - READING SUGGESTIONS
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THE THREE ERAS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
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PART 2 OF THE BOOK
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Links to Social Media - LeStudio1.com
Legal deposit Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du
Québec
ISBN number: 978-2-9821799-3-6
Published July 4, 2023
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