Just over 3 years ago I was out taking shots with a good friend at Fort Rodd Hill, near Victoria, BC. We found ourselves inside one of the old Battlements and my friend began to focus in on the peeling paint on the walls. As I looked closer, I was struck by the patterns created by the textures and began to photograph these impressions. Those images taken on that day in those moments have changed forever the way I view and process the world around me. It was more than what I could see through the lens, what might exist within the image; it was what I could sense in the walls around me. I’ve always been able to imagine countless stories that can exist in a place, what had or could transpire there, the energy within, sometimes being overwhelmed by immensity of all of it. The camera became, in that moment, a buffer, a translator and allowed me to slice away or capture the potential just long enough to become manageable. I could imagine the lives of the soldiers who populated these buildings during their occupation, or the conversations that they had while waiting for something to happen, or the comments and lives of those who had come to see what was left behind. It was as if the walls had retained some of what had been there…still there….the stories that could be told.
Down – Roche Bows Series © Jill Fitz Hirschbold
From that day forward, this awakening to what could be possible, to what could be seen beyond the ordinary became a quest, my passion. The indefinable Abstract Image, so unbearably unique, created out of the complete individualization of perception, yet at times so recognizable. Where is this place that so many bring forward and manifest, why do we know it. Is it memories, the present, the future, a conscious collective of visions?
Earth © Jill Fitz Hirschbold -Earth Series
I really can’t predict where my next image will come from. When I find an old building, a fishing boat, or items no longer used or discarded I can’t help but think of all the people, the lives that would have been in contact with the rooms, boats or items. I can only account for the many thoughts that revolve in my own mind on a daily basis and begin to extrapolate the magnitude of thought and energy that can be stored or emitted by these inanimate objects.
Hidden – Fishermans Wharf Series © Jill Fitz Hirschbold
The titles of most of my images are inextricably linked with the music of my life. What the image sounds like to me, my feelings about the song, the lyrics, at the time the shot was taken or what I listen to when I work on an idea. I do have a set of self imposed restrictions when I produce or manipulate an image. I will saturate, intensify, crop and/or change the orientation of the shot but will not add anything that does not already exist. I’m entirely self taught, these visions are my voice, my life.
Weight – Janion Building Victoria Series © Jill Fitz Hirschbold
Recently I have become quite fascinated with the cable bridges in Vancouver. Not only are these bridges beautifully engineered, truly symmetrical monuments but represent a period of time when all the randomness within a city is funneled in the same but opposing direction. Absolutely immeasurable. This is one of the series I’m working on now.
Leaving – Fishermans Wharf Series © Jill Fitz Hirschbold – Limited Edition of 7
Photo Credits
All Photographs Are © Jill Fitz Hirschbold
Jill Fitz Hirschbold Photographer Bio
I arrived on the West Coast over 25 years ago to study Environmental Science and have been here ever since. I have a Diploma in Environmental Quality, a Bachelor of Science; I’m a PADI Dive Master and spent 12 years working in Environmental Chemistry before starting a family.
My love of the ocean led me to the Coast and underwater to become a DiveMaster. It was there, in the quiet weightless beauty of diving, I first attempted to translate to film the way I feel about what I see. With the addition of a family to my life I spend much less time underwater but do sail and paddleboard across the surface and spend endless hours exploring the forests that surround the sea.
Digital photography has opened a level of experimentation that did not exist with film and there is a freedom without limit. I still cannot resist trying to capture the incredible natural beauty of the forests, mountains and the sea but have added a new avenue of expression that has extended this vision. My Abstract and Architectural images reveal an appreciation for the symmetry and lines of the city, the hidden treasures of what is discarded or the stories that can unfold from an old fishing boat, building or junkyard.
Website: JillHirschbold.com
Follow Jill Fitz Hirschbold on: Facebook
Contact Jill at : jhirschbold@shaw.ca
Recent Guest Photographer Articles:
- Jack's Video Sports Bar
- From Landscape Photographer To Wedding Photographer
- New Johnson Street Bridge by Drone
- Living History: Lexington, Virginia
- Hells Canyon: The Cooler Side of Hades
Thank you Jill for your insights, in such a competetive field as photography is, your work is a technical benchmark for many and inspirational for all of us.
Can’t wait for your next art show
Guillermo