Janice Robertson, b. 1973
Toronto + Vancouver, Canada
Hi! My name is Janice Robertson.
I was born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, Canada – which if you’ve been to Southwestern Ontario you will know as some of the flattest farmland you will ever find. And while one might think that corn and bean fields might be boring without vast mountain landscapes, it is an area that is rich in its biodiversity.
My Backyard
Nestled among the Great Lakes, it is a natural migration route. Rondeau Provincial Park is a songbird migration mecca for photographers and birders alike. As is Point Pelee National Park, which is also the southernmost Canadian roost for migrating Monarch butterflies. Snow geese, bald eagles, osprey, trumpeter swans, mallards, and even snowy owls pass through these parts. These are just two of the many Provincial and National Parks that I spent time in, as a child.
I spent my summers camping and exploring! Enjoying early morning campfire smoke rising over a misty lake. Hunting dew-kissed spider webs before sunrise. Drifting in to get closer looks at beaver dens. Witnessing the glory of the night sky mirrored in a still lake.
Learning to See, Hear, Wait
It was during these early years that I learned to really see – to be observant. To notice details, patterns and textures, the play of light through the trees. A red trillium. A jack-in-the-pulpit. A shaggy mane mushroom. A painted turtle. A tiny orange toadstool. A water spider skating on the surface tension of a lake or a robin’s blue eggshell discarded from a nest.
I learned to hear – to listen. For a splash, a hoot of an owl or the call of a loon. Drips from a paddle, rocks rubbing together under the breaking waves.
I learned to wait – patiently. For a loon to surface near our canoe or for a wolf to howl in the still of the night.
Passionate Curiosity
But most importantly, as a result of all of this, I learned to be curious. Albert Einstein said: “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” I love that sentiment – one of lifelong inquiry and exploration.
Through a Lens
I have been seeing the world through a camera lens for over 45 years, having received my first camera: a Kodak Instamatic X-15F at the age of 5. Ever since I can remember, I have enjoyed capturing details that often go overlooked – a shadow, a texture, a pattern, a moment – and calling attention to them through photography. I enjoy pushing the boundaries of what I can see with my own eyes, playing with time, colour, light and motion – bending the rules to see something in a new light or something that I cannot see with my own eyes, but that can be seen through the camera!
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