David Roddis

dr_bio

Bio

DOB : 1957
Country : Canada
Computer : MAC
Camera : Nikon D300s

Q : How have you gravitated toward visual art?

A : There’s a huge swing in the past 20 years generally away from the word and towards the image. StiIl, I had no idea that I would do visual art and I also resisted the word artist for a long time; my real in-depth, decades-long artistic training from childhood was in classical music. You can find a lot of analogies between visual art and music. I used an early Kodak digital camera for a digital media design course I took in 1998, then after quite a while, years actually, I picked up a consumer point-and-shoot camera, which I could use in manual mode, and then I was smitten. I found to my dismay that as soon as I had taken a good picture, I had to take a better one. With a bigger, better camera! And when presented with an easy way to take a picture, I had to find a more difficult way. I don’t see this ending any time soon.

Q : What is your favourite Medium to work in?

A : I am a photographer using digital technology. However, digital photography is strangely distancing as an end in itself, and for me the actual, physical print – these are pigmented inkjet prints – is the true expression of my work.

Q : Whats your least favourite color?

A : Beige. It’s the undisputed marker of good taste. You’ll never go wrong with beige, my dear!

Q : Educated or Self-Taught?

A : You know, I read the manual that came with my Nikon. It explained a lot. I think a lot more people should read their camera manuals. Then I took a course at the AGO which was photography but really art history. And that was excellent because I began to learn context, and that it was possible to think in terms of art.

Q : What is your hope for your work?

A : Diane Arbus said that the important thing is to just choose a subject and do it, and do it, over and over, and eventually you’ll learn what it means. My hope for my work is that I’ll eventually learn what it means, so I can communicate that meaning.


My Work