G A B R I E L  D I N I M    

Fine Art Photographer

 

In 1951 in Paris (France), I was fortunate enough to be born to polish refugees, who having survived the holocaust bereaved and destitute had no illusions and so no lies. Their dignity was found in recreating themselves every day to the best of their ability with respect for all who deserved it and acceptance for those who did not.

I met my first camera (a Nikon) in 1969 and was promptly fired from my first photo assignment, having greatly overstated my experience. I then set out to learn while surviving as a construction worker, pizza cook, swimming instructor and part time soldier. I put my camera down in 1971, when in Afghanistan I realised that my world had become a sheet of photo paper that insulated me from intimacy with transience and abandon.

I picked up a camera again(a large format), 21 years later when the death of a dear friend made me mortal, and my obsession was mature enough to enliven rather than consume. In those 21 years, (I immigrated to Canada in 1973) I learned a variety of trades from an assortment of weird and wonderful people. I cooked in many little restaurants. I practiced natural medicine, having studied with many healers guided by their reverence for nature and spiritual life. I planted trees when industrial tree planting was in its infancy and the clear-cuts devoured the landscape for kilometers. I designed, manufactured and sold large industrial tents for bush workers (tree planters, fire fighters etc.) I built the first straw bale house (with studio and darkroom) on the East Shore of Kootenay Lake (there are now 4 more).

I had the great fortune to meet many extraordinary people known only to their friends, and I learned that truly, there are no ordinary people. I had a hand in raising 8 children and finally I get to do only photography while raising the 9th

Since Artists can readily be dismissed as misfits, they are allowed to push the boundaries of convention. When the new boundary is accepted, the artist is a genius When the new boundary is rejected the artist is a misfit. What a flexible label to work under, what a range to explore. Esthetic, intellectual freedom, to be had, for the cost of a label. A very good deal, since you asked me. Gabriel Dinim