Faculty
Ian McGuffie is one of the leading members of the Vancouver photographic community, with over 40 years of professional experience. For the past nineteen years he has been director/curator of Exposure Gallery, Vancouver's oldest photographic gallery. As an award-winning photographer his photographs have been exhibited in Europe, North America and Japan. He is also President of the Vancouver Association for Photographic Arts, a society for the promotion of photography as a medium of creative and artistic expression.
Jeff Bell has immersed himself in the art and technology of making pictures, after working in a corporate role in information technology and web development for ten years. Through his professional training at Langara College, he now relishes the opportunity for expression and creativity offered by pursing photography full-time.
Always pushing his own limits, Adam Blasberg found his inspiration to photography on a one-man bicycle tour of Canada from St. John's, Newfoundland to Victoria, BC. Dedication to perfection, professionalism and focus have helped put Adam on the map as a rising force in photography.
Whether behind the lens or in front of it, his focus is people, working cooperatively with all involved to produce a flawless finished piece. With a peerlessly sharp eye for details, Adam Blasberg brings a personal touch to his clients' work.
Christopher J. Morris got his start in photography over 25 years ago shooting news and sports events in Montreal for Canadian Press, Reuters and several newspapers.
Now based in Vancouver, he has worked on assignments for MacLeans, Time, Newsweek, Hello, The New York Times, Times of London, The Observer, Der Spiegel, Stern, and many other magazines around the world, doing documentary work, news, sports, features and portraits.
Currently a contributor to Corbis and Redux Pictures, Christopher has been teaching at VanArts since 2009.
Corwin Hiebert is a business management and marketing consultant to creative entrepreneurs (like world-reknowned photographer and author David DuChemin) As the co-founder of CREATIVEMIX (Ideation Conference), Clamorate.com (resources for creative freelancers) and Taendem Management Agency, Corwin passionately helps creative people turn their dreams into reality, one good business decision at a time.
Award winning photographer David Ellingsen photographs people for the advertising, editorial and corporate markets with a strong focus on contemporary portraiture and athletes.
After almost 10 years in the industry David remains motivated by authenticity and sincerity and focuses these elements into his work with people, portraiture and the creative process itself. David's portraits have attracted commissions from well-known publications such as the New York Times Magazine, Marie Claire, Men's Health, and People. In the advertising and corporate markets he has partnered with clients such as DDB, MTV/Nickelodeon, BC Place Stadium, Translink, BC Hydro and the esteemed David Suzuki Foundation.
David also commits substantial time to his fine art collections. While a departure from his commercial work, they are motivated from the same ethical base and the photographs have evolved to a place of subtle commentary on society’s contemporary values. Two solo exhibitions in the US and the attendance as a guest artist at the Lishui International Photography Festival in China are recent highlights.
David came to the city by way of Cortes Island, a small community of 700 residents off the coast of British Columbia. Bouncing between his hard working folks on the family farm, a few draft dodgers and the other free spirits on the island was certainly an interesting start to life, but also made crystal clear the importance of pairing quality with practicality, people with the environment and the individual with the communal. These values inform his working life to this day, not only through his photographs, but the support of charities, industry associations and mentorship programs.
Educated in British Columbia and California Kaj has over 25 years experience in commercial, illustrative and stock photography working in all camera formats including 35mm, medium, 4” x 5” and 8” x 10” view cameras, and the latest digital equipment. Kaj also has extensive knowledge of and experience in lighting techniques and has owned and operated studios for over 20 years. He has been actively involved in teaching for over 20 years, and has taught at institutions such as the University of British Columbia (Centre for Continuing Education), British Columbia Institute of Technology, and other prominent local photography schools.
Katie Huisman studied photography at the Alberta College of Art and Design, graduating and winning the Govenor General Award in 2004. From there she took on an internship position at Kingsize Studios in Auckland New Zealand where she lived for 1 1/5 years assisting Adam Custins, Aaron K, Fraser Harding, Tony Drayton and countless other international photographers.
Today, Katie is based in Vancouver Canada, where she shoots for a variety of local freelance and international clients. Katie has been exhibiting her work regularly since 1998 and has shown across Canada & overseas. She has had the opportunity to create larger site-specific public art peices along with smaller works for private collectors. Katie's work is represented by the Elliott Louis Gallery and can be seen exhibited regularly.
Mary L.G. Jensen is an accredited portrait photographer who has been running her successful studio in Richmond, B.C. since 1986. Through giving presentations, teaching fellow photographers, and exhibiting her work, she has earned from the Professional Photographers of Canada her Master of Photographic Arts designation. Further recognition from her peers has allowed her to have the prestigious F/PPABC conferred on her, making her a Fellow of the Professional Photographers Association of British Columbia. She is accredited in both Portrait and Wedding photography.
Mauricio Orozco is an advertising and commercial photographer. Born in Mexico City and educated at the Brooks Institute in California, he now calls Vancouver his home. His philosophy is simple, to collaborate with his clients to create images of their products and ideas in a strong and clear way. Some of his clients include Creative Engine Branding and Design, Bare Advertising, University of British Columbia, BC Hydro, BBA Engineering, Grupo Modelo, Kobex Resources Canada, Atkinsons of Vancouver among others. Some of his images are also represented by Farmboy Fine Arts.
Leaving their small B.C. towns of Courtenay and Summerland in the mid-eighties and meeting at Langara's respected photography program led not only to a thriving partnership in business but also to a thriving partnership in life. Pink Monkey Studios, established in 1996 by the husband-and-wife team of Ross den Otter and Sarolta Dobi, has skillfully filled the portfolios of actors, models, and corporate executives from across the Lower Mainland for over a decade. Establishing and maintaining quality relationships with all their clients, the Monkeys' branched out to commercial and on-set film work as well, expanding the scope of their business.
Scott is a Media Producer & Trainer with 15 years of professional experience. Scott brings great relevance to his training through patience, humour, and proven communication techniques to convey complex concepts in simple understandable ways. Scott is an active video producer, editor, graphic designer, web developer, blogger and consultant.
Years of traveling around the world following the surf and snow can do a lot of wonderful things to a person. For Vairdy the people and places rekindled a passion of photography and eventually brought her back to Vancouver to study at Langara College.
After graduating from the Professional Photo Imaging program, she spent the next few years between the secluded Islands of Haida Gwaii in the summertime shooting and following the competitive snowboardcross racing circuit competing across Canada. Her competitive drive to develop as a snowboarder took her to the Andes Mountains of Chile where she was injured during training, putting a sudden end to her snowboarding career.
Following some recovery time at home in Vancouver, Photography once again became her focus and before long Vairdy was assisting and learning the ropes of retouching with Commercial Photographer Philip Jarmain. After a couple years in the commercial business, Vairdy had discovered talents and interests that she did not know existed in retouching and post-production.
With this new focus Vairdy brings to the industry her own unique style, delivering quality work to Ad Firms and Commercial Photographers here in Vancouver.
The first time Ian really thought of himself as a photographer was in the mid 80's doing shots of Hosoi and Hawk and other great skaters of the time for a photo contest. By 1991, he had turned his focus to winter sports having met Evan Feen while doing some backcountry snowboarding. A photo of John Griber jumping a crevasse on Serratus Mountain a year later sold to Mistral snowboards and Ian realized that it was possible to make money from photos. For the last 10 years Ian's main sport has been on mountain biking. Past clients have include Red Bull, Specialized Bicycles, Fox Racing, Maxxis Tires, Ryders Eyewear, Oakley, Race Face, Marzocchi, Manitou, and Brodie Bikes amongst others. Ian has worked as a staff photographer for Decline Magazine and for two years produced a large coffee table photo book for the mountain bike industry titled “TwentySix”. His work have been published in magazines in all over the world including Sports Illustrated, National Geographic Adventure Magazine, Outside, Bike Magazine, Dirt, Modest Bike, Mountain Bike Rider, German Bike Magazine, MBUK, and many more.
Marc Koegel is a local fine art photographer, educator, writer and director of Vancouver Photo Workshops LTD. His black and white landscapes, nudes and architecture photographs have been widely exhibited in Vancouver and abroad.
Born in Germany, Marc first came to Canada in 1996 to earn an Economics degree. He has been seriously involved with photography ever since he was given his father's camera and darkroom setup at the age of 12. He has worked and studied with many internationally acclaimed photographers, including Ralph Gibson, David Hume Kennerly and Jon Cone from Cone Editions Press. Among Marc's keen interest are the creative and transitional techniques used to merit traditional darkroom with the latest digital processes.
Patrick Koslo's first published work was a shot of science fiction author William Gibson for the 1991 cover of West Magazine. His work has since appeared in Vancouver Magazine, B.C. Business, City Food, Common Ground, Nuvo Magazine and the Georgia Straight. He has done slideshows and lectures at Vancouver Film School, Exposure Gallery, Camera Canada College at UBC, Capilano College, The Roundhouse Community Centre, The Planetarium and various camera clubs.
His work, which included 50 light painted images, appreared in the 1998 episode “Killswitch” of The X-Files with Twentieth Century Fox Television. He worked with Georgia Pulos on a 50th Birthday tribute to Jim Morrison of The Doors, shooting in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara and Paris France.
He is constantly looking for new ways to expand is conceptual, experimental photographic vision. He does not use a computer or photoshop but encourages his students to use whatever means necessary to stand out with a creative edge in today's competitive and high-tech photographic world.
Tracey is a professional freelance photographer specializing in food and beverage. She photographs cookbooks, stocks, editorials, product packaging and advertising for the food & hospitality industries. A passion for the culinary arts, combined with her skills and commercial training in photography, led Tracey to develop Foodie Photography in 1997. Topics such as lighting techniques, food styling, set decoration, media usage and color theory will be shared and demonstrated with captivating photography and quirky anecdotes compiled through the years. Tracey de-mystifies food photography and styling with insightful and fascinating tips, tricks and techniques commonly used in this niche market.
