From the Empirical Archives: A Moment with Mary Nash-Pyott

A Moment with Mary Nash-Pyott

Originally published in the February 2013 issue of Empirical

February’s featured photographer, Mary Nash-Pyott discusses her photography in motion. She shares with us her keen eye for the serene and the sacred.

Empirical: Hi Mary. We first became acquainted with your work through a regular contributor to Empirical, Randall Auxier. We’re glad he brought you to our attention. How did you get started in photography?

Mary: It happened in fits and spurts. My adopted father is a successful photographer, now retired, but active in experimenting and astrophotography. But my early experiences with cameras were disappointing. The ones I could afford were the little instant cameras for snapshots of the family. I was intrigued but had little control over the process. When I could finally step up into an SLR , I selected the Canon Rebel, and began shooting 35 mm. I was able to get some fairly nice shots, enough to wet my thirst, but I was unable to master the camera. This is mostly because I am inherently disorganized. Finally, in 2007, as I entered midlife, I received a Canon Powershot A530, and silly as it sounds, went nuts with it. I finally had the instant feedback I needed, and I fell in love. I quickly ran into the limitations of that camera, but I challenged myself to never shoot in any setting but manual, and no flash except when absolutely necessary.

Empirical: Do you think the advancement of camera technology has made the field better or worse? Most young photographers today don’t have to challenge themselves the way you did.

Mary: My goal in using manual was to learn the relationships between the adjustments until I could manipulate them intuitively and without looking at the camera. But now I am seeing excellent quality pictures taken even by cellphones! It’s a lovely development that places a delicious creativity in the hands of anyone with a thirst for it. I like to press myself to learn. And I trained my hand to make the adjustments and shoot without needing to look through the viewfinder, and coupled this with my pilot training to scan my environment while driving.

Empirical: Driving and photographing at the same time?

Mary: My family expressed concerns about that, but I felt more aware of the road than I ever had been plugged into music, the audiobooks, or even talking to a passenger, which I found so much more distracting. I attribute the fact that I am still alive to mindfulness practice and good procedural discipline, plus learning to play the guitar as a youth. I discovered as I played in the dark and in secret that my fingers have eyes, and I can trust them to learn the way. Plus keeping my eyes on the road! I am proud to say I’ve never had an accident, though I did push the edge of the envelope a few times.

Empirical: Did you ever come too close to pushing the envelope all the way?

Mary: Yes, but not as often as you’d think! I am what may be described as a sedate driver: I rarely exceed the speed limit and continually scan the environment as well as my mirrors and gauges, drawing heavily from my pilot training. But yes, at times I would get too excited about a shot and might swerve or slow down abruptly in traffic, which would provide the feedback I needed to bring me back to reality, causing me to re center and reconsider my priorities. I think that was the hardest part, to learn to not take a shot when it may cause an accident.

Empirical: Was there a certain point that you began to take photography more seriously … that is, to see yourself as a photographer?

Mary: I can’t say that I truly see myself as a photographer even now! I see myself as helplessly pursuing something that sets me on fire. I’ve thought of going professional now that I am between jobs, or maybe careers (though that hasn’t been decided yet). But I do not in my mind even approach the stunning works I see others produce who know their stuff and have the frequent-flyer miles and equipment to prove it. My dream is to wander the wilds of both nature and civilization, and to compile a publication of my journeys at home, while I prepare for the next jaunt and save for that next tank of gas.

Empirical: Any wilds in particular you wish to wander first?

Mary: Goodness! Where to start? I dream of spending a couple of weeks in the Appalachians, and maybe walk a section of the trail around Asheville, NC. New Orleans is calling to me as well. And I have an opportunity to visit a ranch in British Columbia. The west always beckons, too. I love the Rockies, the high plains, and deserts. The low humidity causes colors to snap, rather than the haziness that is almost always present here in Illinois. It seems you can’t take a bad picture!

Empirical: Do you like any particular kinds of shots over others?

Mary: I love surprise, so wildlife is fun. I have only recently begun stealing candid shots of people, but that makes me feel like a thief, so I generally approach and ask if they want a copy. I truly don’t know how other photographers overcome that social compunction!

Empirical: Not knowing how is one thing–is there a desire to overcome it?

Mary: Absolutely! I do not want to go to my grave with compunctions that I do not choose for myself. And I fiercely love the stories I see in the lines of the face, in the glint of the eye and the poetry of movement. I have learned that faces are like wildflowers in the wind: if you hold still and wait, you can capture them in a slivered moment between expressions, which for singers can make or break a shot.

Empirical: What kind of equipment do you like to use now?

Mary: I’m currently using a Canon T3 with a kit lens and my trusty XSi with its 55x250 telephoto zoom. I am experimenting with ways to keep these stable on my body as I move. These are pretty tough cameras, and take a lot of abuse, believe me! But I do try to minimize the battering. But my needs inform my designs, and slowly I develop the ways and means to both wander freely and keep my cameras intact.

Empirical: You believe the camera has given you the finest education you can buy. What has it taught you about yourself ?

Mary: I married my husband and moved to our 15 acres and a sturdy farmhouse in rural southern Illinois in 1986, where we raised two beautiful, exceptionally talented, and fiercely independent daughters who are now up and out on their own. Our property abuts what was once a major Indian trading post prior to white settlement, just north of the breathtaking Shawnee Forest. The forest tumbles 60 miles south to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. I have grown to revere that rugged terrain, and walk the Trail of Tears, where the natives of the south were cruelly shunted toward their barren reservations to the west. There is almost a hush in those towering hardwoods, which rise like a cathedral over the bloody footprints and buried corpses of a once-proud people.

Empirical: Do you do some other kind of work other than photography?

Mary: I was forced to graduate in 1996 with a Master’s degree in social work, and began a career in mental health counseling, which draws heavily on my psychology minor. I practiced individual psychotherapy until I left my position in May of 2011 due to deteriorating conditions in the state systems and working seven-day weeks for more years than I care to remember. The camera is what saved my life.

Empirical: Where are you from originally?

Mary: I was born in Bellingham, Washington, but moved to southern California when I was very young. I grew up running the cliffs of Del Mar, just north of San Diego. It was there I developed that love of adventure and surprise as I ran the trails and clambered the beautiful red rocks like a little barefoot goat, drinking from puddles and heading home when the coyotes howled. It was a time of great freedom and expansion for a very lucky little girl. I will always be grateful for an amazing childhood, and will never forget the moment I returned to see those beautiful cliffs of my homeland covered with condos. It is a grief I still bear.

Empirical: Does that memory move you to partake in your adventures today?

Mary: Seeing the condos shocked me into recognizing that the world can shift at any time from beneath me. It stole something from me, something deeper than I could name. And while the adult in me understood the practicalities of expanding populations and the booms and busts of commerce, the child in me held even more fiercely to the memories of running wild, and the magical world revealing itself all around me.

Empirical: Thank you very much for sharing your photos and story with us, Mary.

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From the Empirical Archives: A Moment with Francisco Diez

A Moment with Francisco Diez

Originally published in the January 2013 issue of Empirical

We start the new year with January photographer Francisco Diez, a mechanical engineer by training, who also excels at capturing familiar places in unique ways.

Empirical: Hi Francisco. I first discovered your photography when I was looking for a shot of Wall Street for an article we were doing in August. And then I ran across your work again when we were publishing an article on the Mexican elections. You have a phenomenal talent, and you seem to get around. I see that you’re in Canada now. Is that where you were born?

Francisco: I was born in Mexico. My father was from Spain (from the Catalonia region, which many consider to be an independent nation within Spain). My mother is from Mexico (Guanajuato, a lovely state). I moved to Canada in my teens where I finished my undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. After finishing university, I moved to Liechtenstein (a small country nestled between Switzerland and Austria) where I lived and worked for a few years. I then decided to return to Toronto in pursuit of a master’s degree. The program included a study term in Barcelona as well as a study/work term in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Following my graduate studies, I worked for a number of years in Toronto. More recently, I spent three years living in New Jersey while based out of New York City. My wonderful wife is Canadian, of German background, with whom I have four beautiful daughters. So, I am originally from Mexico (which gives me immense pride), but I have also been greatly influenced by places where I have lived and people that I have met in my travels.

Empirical: So, you went to Canada to go to school? What made you want to return? Are you enjoying it there?

Francisco: I have been based out of Toronto for about a year now, and I think for the next while, it will be home for myself and my family. I was drawn to Canada primarily for the quality of life. Canada is truly a fantastic place to live and raise a family. I have traveled the world, and I believe one would be hard pressed to find a place with a better work/life balance. Toronto is a world-class city that is characterized by its unique diversity and tolerance. Canadians are also extraordinarily polite and friendly.

Empirical: It’s a very nice city. You remind me of how much I enjoyed my visit to Toronto. How did you get started in photography?

Francisco: I took a course back in high school, an optional photography course. It was on both how to take pictures and how to develop them in black and white in a dark room. I found the process fascinating and I was immediately hooked. Photography became more than a hobby, it was a passion that I felt compelled to follow. As it turned out, it was an expensive hobby, and considering that I grew up in crisis-ridden Mexico, the cost factor proved to be limiting. Although I had considered it, from an economic standpoint, photography was not practical as a career. I decided to go for a degree in mechanical engineering.

Empirical: Did you take any further courses, or are you mostly self-taught?

Francisco: I was never enrolled in a proper post-secondary program. In this age of technology, there is such a wealth of knowledge both in the print media and via the internet that can be easily accessed and that can provide the information and the fundamentals needed to become proficient in basic photography skills. I find old-fashioned print magazines very helpful, especially those from the UK.

Empirical: Do you find that you learn from other photographers?

Francisco: I find it incredibly helpful to look at the work of other photographers. Some of my favorites are (in no particular order): Jay Maisel, Bill Fortney, Ian Plant, David DuChemin, Joe McNally, Vincent Versace, and Scott Kelby. Most of these photographers have blogs and on-line galleries. Photographers as a group are also very generous in sharing their experiences. Scott’s website is particularly good if you are interested in entry-level courses. Social networking can also be a good information source. I particularly like Google+. It seems to be designed for photographers. One can learn a lot about composition, exposure, framing, etc., by just looking at the work other photographers do.

Empirical: When did you realize this was more than a hobby, and that you had, in fact, become a photographer?

Francisco: That is a difficult question to answer. I don’t think there is a particular point in time when I realized I had become a photographer. It’s been an gradual process–incremental steps taken over a long period of time. However, photography has really developed into a primary passion over the past five years when I began to post my work online. Feedback was just phenomenal, which really encouraged me to explore and experiment with photography in ways that were new and exciting for me. Getty Images contacted me about two years ago asking to copyright some of my images. Being commercially successful is not of primary importance to me at this point in my life; however, the fact that one of the largest stock vendors was interested in my work made me realize that my work had the potential to appeal to a large audience.

Empirical: Are you a full-time photographer at this time?

Francisco: I have a day job in the financial services industry. My current position is challenging and fulfilling and I enjoy what I do. However, change is always a good thing and it is my dream to eventually transition to full-time photography. I do look forward to the time when photography will be a full-time pursuit.

Empirical: What equipment are you using?

Francisco: I am a big believer that it is not the tool that makes a good photographer, but how it is used. Granted, most professional photographers use high-end cameras and you do need one to produce high quality pictures that end up in exhibits or magazines, but I think there needs to be less emphasis on the type of gear you use. I try to travel light, I shoot with a Nikon D300s and I use basically four main lenses (a prime lens, zoom, wide angle, and a fisheye). Because I tend to shoot at dawn and at dusk (at the day’s edges, when light generates wonderful colors), a tripod is essential. Filters are also needed in some circumstances. Recently, I have been shooting with neutral density (ND) filters to be able to capture long-exposure shots. I have more equipment, that I use depending on the situation at hand, but most of my work can be done with the D300s, these four lenses, and a tripod. I will, however, upgrade my equipment soon–professional full- frame cameras are more accessible now. I will probably get either the Nikon D600 or the D800E.

Empirical: What types of projects do you like working on?

Francisco: I love urban and landscape photography. To capture images that relay what men and God can create is truly inspirational. I find as much beauty in a pristine autumn landscape in Canada as in a busy street in Barcelona. I have traveled around the globe, and no matter where I go, there is always that scene, if captured properly, that will portray the essence of the place and its people. One can think of photographers as history’s stewards, documenting people and places for posterity. As for near-term projects, I will be travelling to Scotland next month.

Empirical: Do you like any particular kinds of shots over others?

Francisco: Perhaps not surprisingly, my work, and by default my taste, has evolved over time. I do not prefer a particular kind of shot, and in fact, my interests are constantly changing For a period of time, I was drawn primarily to black and white photography. Black and white images have this artistry, a timeless feel. Then I moved to highly saturated, high-contrast color shots, which work well in landscape photography. Then I became curious about HDR (high dynamic range) for a while, but I found the final product not to be natural looking. Recently, I have been experimenting with long-exposure shots which make water look silky when shooting seascapes. Long-exposure pictures in black and white look phenomenal. My next area of interest is likely to be portraits, not in a studio, but urban portraits. One’s challenge as a photographer is to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. It is a moving target, but most definitely one worth pursuing.

Empirical: Well, you have done that with remarkable success so far. Thanks for sharing with us, Francisco, and we look forward to following your photography career.

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From the Empirical Archives: A Moment with Deb Riggins

A Moment with Deb Riggins

Originally published in the December 2012 issue of Empirical

December photographer Deb Riggins tells us of her passion for traveling and Henry David Thoreau. fortunately, she carries her camera with her on her journeys.

Empirical: We’re very delighted to feature you in this month’s Empirical. I know you’re in Massachusetts now, but where are you from originally?

Deb: I grew up in the suburbs of Washington and moved to Southern Maryland when I was sixteen.

Empirical: How did you come to be in Massachusetts?

Deb: I became interested in Thoreau a few years ago and began visiting Concord on a regular basis, so I decided to try it out for a while.

Empirical: We love hearing that. Empirical is grounded in classical American philosophy. What did you like about Thoreau?

Deb: I’d had read bits and pieces of Thoreau’s work most of my adult life, but when I returned to college at Penn State I took a literature class and learned more about his life and him as a person. I was just enthralled with his writing and his life. When I read his journals or his books, I feel like he’s there talking to me. I can’t really explain it, it just is. When my sister died, I went to the pond and, this might sound crazy, but I felt he was there. I started to understand his pain, because he lost a brother he was close to. I just felt at peace when I was there. It comforted me for some reason because I was in a lot of pain after she died. It’s a very personal place for me.

Empirical: We’re very sorry to hear about your loss. And glad to hear you’ve found a spot that brings you comfort. Fortunately for all of us, you’re getting a lot of good photographs while you’re there.

Deb: I’ve taken a lot of pictures of Walden Pond. It’s one of my favorite places in the local area. It’s really sort of a mecca. A lot of people visit it from all over the world. Thoreau was so influential in so many ways. I think he would be surprised at the way people flock to see where he lived. It’s a beautiful place–very peaceful. It’s my get-away place. It’s a place to think and contemplate life and society. On days when I’m having a really tough time dealing with life, I can go there walk around the pond, and sit at the cabin ruins and just feel at peace. If you stand at the rock pile and look out at the pond, which is what he must have seen every morning–it is the most amazing site and feeling. I just feel this wave of serenity every time I look out from that point. The first time I came here I was in awe! And I still am. You can read his journals and go to the pond and still experience what he writes about. I guess that is what I really like about Thoreau. He’s still there in so many ways.

Empirical: In the shot of Thoreau’s headstone with “Henry” written on it, did you find the headstone that way, or did you decorate it?

Deb: Yes. . . I set up that shot! The pine cones are from Savannah and Pennsylvania. Some of the rocks and coins were already there. If I recall, it was near his birthday. The rose that I put there was made for me by a street vendor in Savannah. It’s a very interesting craft.

Empirical: When did you start your traveling?

Deb: I married a military guy and we traveled to California, Japan, and Maine. I just moved to Massachusetts a little over a year ago.

Empirical: How did you get started in photography?

Deb: I was pretty much a loner as a teenager and became enthralled with Ansel Adams. I’ve always loved photography and old photos. I loved looking at his photographs and wanted to see the places he photographed. Maybe that is where my love of travel developed.

Empirical: Ansel Adams is one of our California treasures. I moved to California in that same period you’re talking about, and was also motivated by him. When did you get your first camera?

Deb: When I graduated from high school, my parents bought me an SLR, the Olympus OM-1. My daughter still has it–it is what she learned on too.

Empirical: The OM-1 was my first SLR, too. What equipment do you use now?

Deb: I have a Canon EOS 50D and a variety of lenses. My favorite is a 50 mm 1.8 and 24-105mm 1.4. 

Empirical: When did you start to take photography seriously as an art?

Deb: When I moved to California in my twenties, I began taking pictures of the beach, parties, and my kids. They were always my favorite subjects. But when I moved to Japan, I began exploring the culture. I began thinking more like a photographer. I loved Japan. I took photographs of everything there.

Empirical: Can you give us some examples?

Deb: It was here that I began to read about Buddhism and Shinto. I rode around on my bike and photographed temples and shrines all over the area, including shots of the large Daibutsu in Aomori. I photographed the people, who often love to have their pictures taken, and the landscapes. We went to a lot of festivals and I would photograph the people and nature, a lot of nature, since nature is a large part of their culture and lifestyle. There was a tremendous earthquake when we lived there. I took photos of the damage in the local area.

Empirical: Did you get training for photography in school?

Deb: I’m self-taught. I have taken a few classes over the years, but nothing formal. I just read and experimented with my camera, film, and developing. But while living in Japan, I met other photographers who encouraged me to explore my talents. They were other military members and dependents. One guy was a former service member who served in Vietnam. He took pictures of bridges when he was there. One winter we drove around and took pictures of the snow and ice. He was the first person that ever told me he thought I had talent and really loved what I captured on film.

Empirical: So your work began to take off ?

Deb: Yes. I set up this very portable darkroom in the bathroom. I closed off the hallway, taped off the doors, and taught myself to develop and print. I entered a couple of contests and found people were interested in my work. I won first place and honorable mention in a photo contest when I lived there. That was when I began thinking more seriously about what I was doing with my camera.

Empirical: I know that you’re a professional framer, too. How did that start and does your work as a photographer and framer intersect?

Deb: Japan is also where I began working as a picture framer. They had a self-help area where I would frame my photos and they asked me to work there. My framing and photography did intersect there. I taught framing in the self-help area and a few people bought my photos and had them framed there.

Empirical: What kind of projects do you like working on now?

Deb: It depends on my mood and what interests me at the time. A lot of times, I will pick up a book and read projects in there. When I lived in Philadelphia, a college project really got me back into the shooting mode.

Empirical: What class was that?

Deb: It was a class in urban sociology. That was the most interesting class I think I’ve ever taken. The final project was to choose a neighborhood, interview residents, and give a presentation on the neighborhood. 

Empirical: What neighborhood did you choose?

Deb: I ended up with Queen Village mostly because I liked the name. I talked to a few people and walked the neighborhood. Then I went back with my camera. It’s an amazing neighborhood–the diversity of it. Philadelphia is known for its murals so I started there and moved into the houses, row houses painted all different colors. Old firehouses and warehouses have even been turned into row homes. I really got into the culture of the neighborhood and met some very fascinating and amazing people at that time. The most interesting ones were the ones that stayed there through all the changes from the 60s to the millennium. In the 1960s it was a ghetto, falling apart, and some old “hippies,” I was told, bought up some properties and started renovating the area. It’s gone through the typical ups and downs that neighborhoods and areas do. In 2008 when I was involved with this, it was going through a gentrification that many weren’t happy with. People who had lived there for years were being pushed out by a new gentrification. A lot of trailblazers, really, and down-to-earth, wonderful people who lived there for forty or fifty years, were being pushed out. I met a woman that started the community garden there. I could go on forever about that project.

Empirical: What happened next?

Deb: After that I began photographing the murals and public art around Philly and the architecture and the people. Street and park musicians, re-enactors and such. It’s such a busy city with so much activity.

Empirical: Aren’t you a runner, too? Your photograph of some sneakers is one of the illustrations I chose for a short story called “Sneakers” in our August issue.

Deb: I love running and hiking and just being outdoors. I’m usually running in races, but one year I was injured, so I went to races and shot pictures of runners. A friend of mine was getting into triathlons, so I shot some of a race she did in Philadelphia. So, yes, my photography and my other hobbies do intersect.

Empirical: Not too long ago, you were traveling across the country, weren’t you?

Deb: In 2010, after my sister passed away, I drove across country as therapy and took quite a few shots of the country–places I had never been before, national parks, the zoo, and my granddaughter. My sister always wanted me to pursue my talents, so it was for her. I did it with her in my heart. It was kind of a healing. I also just returned from a trip not too long ago crossing the country again. I love to travel. I only wish I could do it more.

Empirical: And when you’re not traveling?

Deb: More recently, I have been photographing local bands and cars. The man I am involved with at the moment is a huge car enthusiast and he also works with a couple of local bands doing sound and lights. I’ve been taking shots of car shows and cruise nights in Massachusetts. I’ve taken some shots of the tribute band “Crazy Train.” Lately I’ve been taking photos of a local band that was popular in the 60s and 70s that is having a rebirth. It’s called “The Barker Gang.” So really, projects just kind of present themselves to me.

Empirical: It’s been great hearing about your world. Thanks for sharing with us!

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From the Empirical Archives: The World of Actress and Director Tara Browne

The World of Actress and Director Tara Browne

Richard Jones

Originally published in the November 2012 issue of Empirical

To the ears of Canadian filmmaker Tara Browne, “diversity” signifies considerably more than a feel-good word. It sums up every facet of her life, both the good days as well as the downright ugly ones. With seven ethnic streams jockeying for position in her DNA–Austrian, British, Scottish, Hawaiian, Philippine, Spanish, Chinese–she could hardly avoid the mantle of diversity.

Browne grew up in a charming middle class neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia. The neighbors all looked nice. However, a person’s façade of gentility does not necessarily guarantee an inner core of civility.

“I stood out–which I hated,” Browne recalls. A little blonde, blue-eyed girl once said to her, “Your hair is brown, your name is Browne and your skin’s brown too.” Another time, neighborhood punks in a car chased Browne and her brother and sister. “They tried to scare us–and they certainly did,” she admits.

Browne’s parents were not spared from violence. When the family went camping, people threw rocks at her parents’ tent. Ethnic hostility did not cease with rocks. “When I was a little girl, about seven, I witnessed a neighbor shout out racist remarks to my father,” she recalls. “He thought my father was the gardener.” After some more angry words, the neighbor and her father began throwing punches at each other.

Later in her life, Browne’s varied background became a negative factor when she auditioned for a role. “I have a difficult time fitting into the mold of casting,” she says. “I’m not Asian enough, not white enough, not Spanish enough. A casting director even told me that to my face. He is a friend and he told me [that’s] the way the business is.” All these elements began shaping her concept of diversity.

Perhaps that is why she refuses to be bundled into someone’s little box of ethnic clichés.

“I am many things,” says Browne with formidable justification. “I don’t like to be put in one category.” Consider her degree in criminology which preceded her studies in the performing arts. Browne’s father told her the only way she would gain respect was to get an education or make a lot of money by ascending a corporate ladder or becoming a lawyer or a doctor. Browne says, “I kind of bypassed all that and became an artist. I took the harder route. What can I say? I like challenges!”

But first, she spent four years in Simon Fraser’s criminology program, where she sought to understand “how social and political life is shaped through power.” If one considers criminology and art unrelated, one would do well to dust off Alexander Pope’s pithiest aphorism: “The proper study of Mankind is Man.” That includes not only saints and sinners, but also the bulk of humankind harboring both personas within their crania.

On the path of the digital film

In 2005 she began studying method acting at Methodica Acting Studio in Vancouver, receiving a diploma in 2007. From there, she found a platform at Vancouver’s Pocket Stage that specialized in cutting-edge playwrights. Canada’s film world began taking notice of the versatile young woman on Vancouver’s stages, offering Browne a role in The Ovum Factor by Marvin L. Zimmerman. Some have called this venture to the Amazon an “eco thriller” crossed with indigenous respect for protecting wildlife systems.

Then Europe called. Browne headed across the Atlantic to star as the “Asian Girl” in a NIVEA beauty commercial that aired across Europe. While in Hamburg she directed an all-German crew and starred in The Audition, a short film inspired by Jane Martin’s play. She managed this neat trick although she does not speak German.

Back in Canada, she set up residence in Toronto in 2010. After careful thought, Browne decided that a film career offered the most efficacious vehicle to support her vision. Thus she launched her own “independent platform of artistic vision.” Named Diversity Face Films, it was in no way modeled on any Hollywood studio steeped in tent-pole mentality. She defined her goal as one “to create human stories of diversity that help generate greater integration, inclusiveness and understanding. We seek to break down differences and to help build greater social harmony.”

To ensure that the world would take her seriously, Browne has emphasized state-of-the-art quality. She described her goal as becoming “a new independent film platform that produces high-quality, visually beautiful, thought-provoking films dedicated to diversity. That includes [diversity in] actors, stories, and crews. We are here to promote diverse faces, diverse stories and diverse film crews from around the world.”

Ethnic equity remains a far off goal in the film industry. “When you go into a video store, look at all the covers on the DVDs and movie posters,” she suggests. “Then count how many ethnic [minorities] are playing the leads. . . . Then go outside the store and walk around your neighborhood [and] see if this is equal representation.”

“North America is largely made up of immigrants and yet when you turn on a TV it seems that the actors are mainly white with a [few] African Americans [to] make up for all other races. . . . I’m not saying all of Hollywood is racist. I think there are several factors involved. There is just not a lot of encouragement for ethnic people in the arts from their families. . . . That’s why it’s important to focus on your inner self . . .your unique self. Stop trying to fit in.”

Browne encourages minorities to stay true to themselves. “In the end, we should all focus inwards. That’s where the power is.. . .” Who else can create an authentic minority viewpoint? “Ethnic people have a tremendous opportunity to tell their story. It’s just that being an artist is not promoted very much amongst immigrant families.”

Diversity implies that there are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of ways that an individual might approach any problem. To take advantage of diversity, her crew on every project includes members from a wide number of backgrounds. This not only offers many alternatives to consider, but more creative solutions. On a broader palette, this could serve as a model to bring better understanding and broader paths to a more just world.

Following the Picasso dictum “Art is a lie that tells the truth,” Browne produced The Poacher, a western unlike any other. The theme demonstrates that women can take on challenges as well as men. The script casts the mother as Native American and the father as white. “I purposely wanted to have a mixed-race family. I wanted to show that such families did in fact occur during these times in the Wild West,” she says. Browne called for a number of rarely encountered techniques. Set in the backwoods of Langley, British Columbia, the film uses several devices to create an 1890s flavor, including sets with elaborate period pieces.

The black and white photography and the silent film opening add an antique patina– until the first gunshot knocks us out of our seats. By then we are primed to accept Browne as a hard-riding, sharp-shooting woman. Not surprisingly, in real life Browne is both.

In addition to creating a different story, Browne put special importance on achieving “high production value.” To this end, she worked with a 60 man crew. The experienced professional team included photographer Pieter Stathis (some 40 movies on his credits) and Italian set designer Luca Carati, who has worked his magic in Europe, Asia, and North America. “I had a beautiful art director and a wonderful crew,” Browne says. “The film had an estimated value of $178,000, but I did it on a shoestring budget of $2,000 because I pulled favors. Period.”

In Elinor Svoboda’s recent gender bending fiction film, It Remains Unsaid, Browne starred as the principal antagonist. Composed by twin musicians Tegan and Sara, this Toronto production featured Browne as a torn and confused lesbian “coming out” in early adulthood. 

Currently Browne has accepted the lead role in Delerium, a Gothic horror film by Allen Legacy. Unlike most groan-and-gore epics, this one has a strong point of view. It will address breaking a cycle of domestic abuse, certainly an all-too-common practice in the world.

In the film, she says, “I had to do a fight stunt scene. [In that scene] I felt the pain of a woman in an abusive relationship. It was so painful. I thought, this is what I have to do, for those women stuck in a violent domestic relationship. For some reason I feel like I have a responsibility for this world and it’s just the beginning I think. I just wish I could do more.”

Meanwhile, Browne wrote a “semi-autobiographical” script inspired by the life of Buffy Sainte-Marie. The Grammy-winning Native American folk singer gained fame for her war protest song “Universal Soldier.” Browne calls Sainte-Marie “a truly remarkable woman who continues to make positive changes in the world through her music.”

Four decades later, Browne aims to “bring forth a message of peace and activism . . . for everyone to see. We plan to produce an award winning short which brings forth Buffy’s message of peace.” Browne is just the right person for the project. “I have been researching her life since 2008,” she says. Here, Browne’s ten years of training as a classical pianist and a knack for vocals came into play. This film marks a new level for Browne. “We are being backed by a well-known production company in Toronto,” she says. “This is my first well-financed production.” She plans to use this as a base for a future project. “From this film we are spawning the feature film.”

Here and there, after college, Browne absorbed uncountable examples of abuse by megalomaniac power mongers from classic literature through tomorrow morning’s newspaper. Even more inflammatory were first hand accounts related to her by the victims of persecution who had fled to Canada to avoid death or torture. The melding of Browne’s skills–and an encounter with a refugee from Burma (now Myanmar)–led her to write, produce, and direct I Met a Man from Burma in 2011. The award-winning film highlights the experiences of freedom fighter Ler Wah Lo Bo. This character-driven documentary short explores the oldest on-going conflict in the world. The narrative is expressed through the eyes of Ler Wah Lo Bo, a Burmese refugee. As a former revolutionary fighter for the Karen National Liberation he turned activist. The film touches on the current state of Burma with a focus on the use of child soldiers.

A number of festivals have accepted this documentary, including the Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale Film Cloud, where it was chosen out of a thousand entries. It also appeared at the Vancouver International Film Reel Causes program, Toronto’s Hot Docs. Most recently, The Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto added I Met a Man from Burma to its screenings.

The film caught the attention of SHAW TV. An interview with Browne soon followed, reaching an estimated three million viewers. Soon, local newspapers and magazines contacted her, requesting interviews. Browne sent the Canadian immigration minister a copy of the film. About two months later, the minister called Ler Wah on May 6, 2012, to say that an upgrade from refugee status to full citizenship would soon take place. A film can generate more virtues than simply “putting butts in the buckets.” The proud filmmaker smiles the smile of satisfaction with this humanitarian act.

“I feel this is my biggest accomplishment so far in my life,” she says.

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From the Empirical Archives: A Moment with Michael Baird

PHOTOS: "Mike" Michael L. Baird, flickr.bairdphotos.com

A Moment with Michael Baird

Originally published in the October 2012 issue of Empirical

Michael’s living the dream at Morro Bay in California, taking photographs of the macro and micro realms he encounters there. Empirical gets a peak inside his world.

Empirical: Hi Mike. Thanks for talking with us. You’ve quickly become one of our favorite go-to photographers. How did you get started in photography to begin with?

Mike: I retired twelve years ago, at the early age of 55, from a VP of Engineering position at ask.com in Silicon Valley in 2000, just when the internet was starting to blow up. As a farewell gift my associates gave me one of the first digital point-and-shoot cameras.

Empirical: You had never been involved in photography before that at all?

Mike: Before I got my digital camera in 2000, all I had done was use disposable point-and-shoots, and I didn’t really know or care about the basics of photography.

Empirical: So what happened after that? What took you to the ocean?

Mike: After twenty years in the fast lane, participating in lots of start-ups, an IPO, stress, and absolutely insane working hours, my wife Heidi and I decided to abandon the career, restore our health, and better enjoy our limited time on earth, in one of the best places to live on earth. Landing in the idyllic Central Coast California town of Morro Bay, I found myself surrounded by the beauty of nature, the solitude of vast open spaces, and involved in volunteer work in our California State Parks and the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History.

Empirical: I’m sure they appreciated that. What did you do for them?

Mike: I immediately became a docent for State Parks, and being pretty much the only one with a digital camera supplemented with abundant computer and internet skills, I became the default photographer providing all of the images needed for interpretation, programs, presentations, museum newsletters, museum displays, and outdoor kiosks.

Empirical: You dove right in, it sounds like. Was there a certain point that you began to take it more seriously and to see yourself as a photographer?

Mike: I created the morro-bay.com website as a way to integrate into the community, and through that (and my volunteer work) I soon met many local artists and other intelligent, well-educated, retired friends–many of whom encouraged my new-found photography activity. Because I was not particularly well-informed about birds, flowers, natural history, and the stuff of State Park interpreted hikes, I instead contributed through my photography and computer skills, offering, for example, to help every one of the 150 docents to become computer literate, and to repair and upgrade their machines, and provide free technical support. That burst of PC volunteerism soon led to overload, and I retreated almost exclusively into photography. I created a social network of now over 350 local photographers (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/photomorrobay/ and http://www.flickr.com/groups/photomorrobay/) who are now teaching each other how to grow and improve.

Empirical: I guess you moved on from that original digital camera. What equipment do you use now?

Mike: I soon found that I needed a much better camera, and better lenses, if I were ever to get the professional quality in the photos that I wanted. Choosing Canon, I’ve gone through every model from the first Rebel to the latest 5D Mark III, upgrading cameras once a year.

Empirical: Did you get any training other than in the social network you created?

Mike: I’ve never paid for a lesson, and have an aversion to doing so, as I’d rather buy a $500 lens than take a $500 course. I consumed all of the most-popular photography books on Amazon. com, and exploited much of the free rich content on the internet. I now consider myself a fairly advanced photographer technically, but certainly not an artist. I actually don’t think of photography as a very challenging technical activity. After all, a camera is a simply machine to operate, with just a few variables to control, and there is not much science to it, for the limited kinds of documentary work that I do. I spent my earlier years as a research scientist, after getting a PhD in computer science in 1973, so taking photos was more relaxation and recreation than a technical challenge.

Empirical: Did your work in computer science help with your digital photography?

Mike: I was completely at home with the new field of digital image processing, as my early work was in the field of computer vision and robotics.

Empirical: You have quite an impressive background. What kinds of subjects do you relate to best as a photographer?

Mike: Photography was becoming more an excuse to get outside. Everyone told me the best photos are only taken early or late in the day, but I’d said “I don’t wake up to do photography; I do photography when I’m awake.” I shoot opportunistically whatever is presented: including people, photojournalistic events, insects, mammals, reptiles, birds, flowers, and landscapes. My camera is an extension of my eyes, and I’m interested in seeing everything in this world closer and in different ways.

Empirical: Why don’t you see your work as an art?

Mike: I recognize that there is an entire other world of artistic photography, where images are created that I’ll never be able to visualize, let alone realize. That’s not my domain. I’m a documentarian, not an artist. I shoot what I see in everyday life, what comes my way, and rarely do I go after a planned target.

Empirical: Can you say more about your basic philosophy when it comes to photography?

Mike: My Flickr profile (http://www.flickr.com/people/mikebaird) says “Life is short, and I get a kick out of seeing others enjoy my images in a responsible way. My motivation for freely sharing almost all of my photographs under a Creative Commons Attribution License, without compensation, and for almost any purpose non-profit or for-profit, comes from my interest in contributing to a legacy, which I define as the ‘bits one leaves behind on the Internet.’ This can only be done by having a fair number of images with attribution persist in perpetuity, through inclusion in a wide number of educational, wiki, archival, governmental, NGO, private, and corporate websites and digital resources. This follows the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) philosophy for preservation of intellectual property.” Through the magic of Flickr, Creative Commons, and the internet, I now have thousands of my images being used in websites, blogs, books, kiosks, displays, movies, and archives (many in Wikimedia and Wikipedia... but I don’t put them there myself ). I encourage photo sharing, and say, “A photo taken but not shared might just as well have never been taken.” As a result of my preaching this, and many others taking that advice to freely share, a small photo community around me in San Luis Obispo County, CA, has in a way been transformed into a highly visible, recognized center-of-excellence for photography.

Empirical: Do you have other hobbies in your quite active retirement?

Mike: I also do a lot of kayaking, hiking, beach walking, birding, and I spend eight hours every day learning things from the internet which is just the most fascinating thing in the world to me. Cool resources like Empirical magazine come to my attention, and the cycle of sharing and learning continues.

Empirical: We appreciate your saying that. And thank you for sharing with us.

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If you are a writer and are interested in writing for Empirical, check out this link to find out how to submit.