- Vincent van Gogh -

Jay’s advice to come well rested was fitting. Spending 5 more than full days learning from him, experiencing his work, practicing, and receiving his critique was amazing. His mansion studio drew me in warmly, and then became a comfortable, safe place to taste a lifetime of compelling art. Deeply experiencing the very heart and soul of a working photographer’s world changed my relationship to my photography, and rebooted my life in some ways.

Wood, steel, terrazzo, stained glass … everything with the patina of years of experience, the soul of the studio made it easy to let my guard down, and really hear what he had to say. In this place, anything but Jay’s complete honesty would feel wrong. I LOVED it when, presented with one of my images from the day before, he said “Ok … now you’re just yanking my chain”. He always seemed to know exactly how to be hard, compassionate, and humerous, and his love of the art form shows through.

Breaking bread with my class and our teacher was an important, and obviously well considered aspect of the week. The places we experienced were beautiful not only for their menus, but for their light and vibe also. These times were a chance to absorb a part of lower Manhattan history and culture in a way rarely experienced by so many visitors.

Jay and his team made me feel like this was my home. Each of them shared their knowledge and experience generously and genuinely. I will never forget.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In an earlier post, I expressed my frustration with my local municipal licensing watchdogs.

Having had some time to think, I’m less angry, but am still shocked by their approach. Particularly, the non-diplomatic nature of it.

Immediately after receiving the complaint, I communicated with my city councillor, added a note to my web-site clearly stating that I don’t do paid work in Edmonton out of respect for the local pros, and removed an angry post from my flickr page. They backed down.

Some questions have surfaced that would be nice to have answered… did some local pro photographer complain, or do they have staff that are looking for these kinds of situations? If the city has staff that is watching, they sure didn’t do any “background” on this investigation. Coincidentally, in our neighborhood this winter, The City issued warnings to a number of neighbors on our block (including us) for failing to shovel the sidewalks. It’s the first time I’ve heard of this happening since we’ve lived here (about 15 years), and the neighbors in question (and we too) are pretty diligent about snow removal. Again, do they have people out looking for infractions, or did they receive a complaint.

I don’t even want to start on the road snow clearing issue… this city has failed miserably year after year to clear snow properly from our urban neighborhood’s streets.

So, either our city is trying to pad it’s wallet unfairly, or there are some fiendish rats lurking around.

I seem to do my best thinking horizontally. Perhaps lying on the couch with my feet elevated gets more blood to my brain?

Some of us will turn the tide of history by our actions. Some of us will live in obscurity. But all of us can have great worth and value in our lives and can be comfortable with those less or more powerful than we.

Dear Planning and Development Department:

Thank you for the Notice.  I was worried that my photographic art work was going un-appreciated.

I’m just wondering if you’re also going to be sending a notice to my neighbor, who loves cooking soup.  She’s very good at it, and sometimes brings over some tupperware containers of soup for my wife and I to enjoy.  We have sometimes filled her tupperware with our own soup, or other treats before returning them.  Does that mean she’s operating a business?  I’m sure she can afford the permit fees, even though she’s raising a baby on a single income. There’s talk of a “soup party” among the neighbors– where we’d bring our own soups to trade… will everyone at the party have to get permits too?

Come to think of it, there’s a girl next door to us who does babysitting.  I could probably arrange a sting for you— I could hire her to cat-sit, and you could swoop in and make her comply.

Also, I’m pretty sure the ghost of the old lady who owned our house before us is running moonshine after we go to sleep… you may want to check into that.

Oh, and your notice is a little confusing. Directly under NOTICE TO COMPLY, it says “Operate a Business Without a License”.  Does that mean I should be doing that?

Then, your notice goes on to instruct me to call 496-3100 to obtain a license.  When I call that number, I get a recording that says it is a number to which long distance charges will apply.  You may have meant to include 780 in front of that— but who’s worried about details?

Warmest Regards,

Michael Reinhart

(Full Disclosure:  I was at one time marketing my services as a photographer on the Internet. Some 6 or 8 months ago, I decided that I would not be seeking any professional work.  I did not remove the marketing references from my web site until after I received the initial email from the City of Edmonton.

For the record, except for one shoot some 3 years ago, I have never been paid for photography in the City of Edmonton.

Today, I continue to build my body of artistic photography for my own gratification.)