Many (over 30?) years ago I submitted a photo to an exhibit and contest in Guelph Ontario… they were reluctant to accept it as it wasn’t framed. In the end they did. And they awarded it first place… with the proceeds I framed it (there were only two prints made from this image and I suspect this framed version is the only one still around). And yes, it’s an image of bicycle. A bike, its shadow, and the snow from where the shadow was a moment before. Bike X 3.
That was the only time I’ve subjected my work to the scrutiny of judging that way, until this week. And this time it’s a short documentary video rather than a B&W still. I’m interested to see how it will go. The deadline was April 1st so I left it late to submit. Fortunately they extended the deadline to the middle of April and I’m sure they’ll get it before then. The Bicycle Film Festival was launched in 2001 and has expanded to cycling meccas around the world (sadly, that doesn’t include Toronto… yet).
The work I did with Zef (my son Steffan) as he built up his bamboo bike studio here in Toronto came together in a video and that’s what has finally made its way to BFF. We have no idea where it will go or even if it will get used. I certainly hope it gets included… the studio had been a dream for Steff for years and seeing it happen has been thrilling. I’m very proud of him for seeing it through and I know it’s been hard. Documenting the setup of the studio and the creation of the first “BBST” frame was a thrill. I hope the video will spread a little bit of that good karma around.
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| The studio… when it was an empty canvas |