Raymond Vos
Biography
My father documented my family’s growing up years, first with a Brownie film camera and later, as finances allowed, with an 8mm movie camera. My own excursions with the borrowed Brownie whet my appetite for something more. Later, I shot many rolls of B&W film with my new 35mm SLR for the High School yearbook, which introduced me into the world of candid portraiture. I spent far too much time in the darkroom, at the expense of my grades and social life, I’m sure.
Over the years I loved to document the life of the communities that I was involved in. I still share those early photographs today with the people in those communities. The photos help us to celebrate and cement our history together. In more recent years, when I hesitantly began to use my brother’s digital point-and-shoot camera, my photography world shifted again. My love for photography was rekindled. I replaced the darkroom with Photoshop and expanded my abilities. Slowly I allowed my creativity to resurface again and express a connection between the outside world and my own perspective.
On a recent trip to Kenya, and almost 15,000 photographs later, I focused my creativity and vision on a new purpose. I shared the photo-documents of my travels and the people I met with others and came into a new sense of confidence. I am eager to return and explore Kenya behind the camera in a more intentional way.
Artist’s Statement
After more than 46 years of taking photographs, I feel that I am finally focusing on what I wish to achieve as a photographer. I want to tell stories. I want my photos not only to capture my interpretation of beauty, but to convey a glimpse of someone else’s world through portraiture, as they allow the camera to reveal a part of themselves.
This is a quote by one of my favourite photographers:
“There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera.”
Henri Cartier-Bresson
