Member of the Month – Kamloops Arts Council
Full Name: Robin Goodfellow
Medium: photography – digital & analog
How long have you been doing your art: I have been taking photos since high school where I spent my time working on the school yearbook staff.
What got you originally interested in the art you do: Photography allows me the chance to share what it’s like to see through my eyes and live in my head to someone else, if only for a moment.
What is something you have learned about yourself through your art: To poorly paraphrase alpinist Anatoli Boukreev, “Photography is not merely an art form where I satisfy my ambition to create, it is the cathedral where I practice my religion”
What do you enjoy the most about your art: photography is not simply pressing a button and creating a photo – there is so much involved in how I costume my portraits, set design, engage in post-production, the film I use, the exposures I utilize – it’s like a math equation with endless variables and I’m able to constantly push myself.
What is your favourite joke/quote: “Submit yourselves therefore to god. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” james 4:7
What is something most people don’t know about you: I absolutely adore big-budget summer action films with a lot of explosions.
If you could teach everyone one art medium or method, what would it be, and why: obviously, the answer here is photography. it’s a very user-friendly medium that allows the artist to show their own selves to the world. there’s such a range of photography and specific subtypes of photography and no one photographer is alike to another.
What do you think makes art important: Art should be weird, wild, even ugly sometimes, and explore the vast range of the human experience. it’s such a human impulse to create art, and for the briefest of moments we can shake hands with an artist when we experience their artwork, and I really like that.
Why are you a member of the Kamloops Arts Council: I love Kamloops. I was born here, I grew up here, I do my work here, and I am so grateful to be surrounded by the community of wild, weird, and wonderful creators that make up our arts community in this little-big city, and I’m a member to share in all of this with all of my people.
What are you looking forward to the most in this upcoming year (A special show or project you’re working on): I’ve been working on some music in my bedroom, and have been doing photography and video to go along with it. I’ve started work on some historically inspired costumes and can’t wait to reveal them in future work of mine.
Fun Fact: the photograph i’ve attached is my spring 2024 self-portrait, taken on expired Polaroid film, using the Polaroid 600 sun lms camera that came out in 1983.