Operativ.Studio
Operativ.Studio
145 Spruce St,
Ottawa, ON 90017

SPAO Series

overview

SPAO is where a photographer can truly find a safe, inviting space for their passion to find footing. Through the years, I've learned from giants and mentors to bring my practice to a place that fulfills my creative drive.

Project ID

SPAO Series

Capture Date

September 15, 2025

Gear

Various Rigs | Various Leneses

Adrien Duey, master of light and tone, once told me that studio work is a practice of 'painting with light.' That's what I take into all of my work since its utterance. A subject is bathed in, or denied light to evoke emotion.

John Healey, authority on still life studio photography, imparted to me that a still life is portrait work for subjects that don't talk back. Sometimes, inanimate objects can exude anthropomorphized emotion. Tell me these pears don't ave a thing going on.

When do you 'become' a professional photographer? When are you done being an amateur, or a hobbyist, and take the art seriously enough to make the leap? Is it a matter of hours ut in, or does your work, cumulatively, just say 'you're ready.' Or maybe Michael Tardioli tells you.

There's a line between portrait and street photography that divides the two practices. Sometimes, a happenstance moment takes on a life that resembles studio work, that becomes art. Even though you did very little yourself.