{"id":32667,"date":"2019-05-31T03:55:54","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T10:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=32667"},"modified":"2019-05-30T22:35:47","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T05:35:47","slug":"plants-hidden-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/05\/31\/plants-hidden-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"Plants\u2019 hidden beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yellow gazanias, by Pamela Fayerman. Eighteen of Fayerman\u2019s macro photos form the exhibit Intimate Encounters, which is at VanDusen until June 27.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Well-known for her writing about medicine, science and health policy in the Vancouver Sun<\/em>, award-winning journalist Pamela Fayerman has another area of expertise, perhaps somewhat lesser known: macro photography. Her first exhibit \u2013 Intimate Encounters: Botanical Closeups \u2013 opened at VanDusen Botanical Garden with a reception on April 6.<\/p>\n

Born in Prince Albert, Sask., Fayerman grew up in Saskatoon. She moved to Toronto to attend Ryerson University School of Journalism, with the intention of becoming a photojournalist. While she changed her mind about that, she said the \u201cphotography courses at Ryerson taught me about important things like using light, subject composure and print developing. Even though everyone does digital photography these days, the foundations for those of us who learned on old SLR cameras are still pertinent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I was at Ryerson, I got an incredible break with a story scoop that would be a defining career opportunity,\u201d she said. \u201cI sold the front-page story to the Globe and Mail<\/em> and then I was invited to continue working there on a freelance basis. When I graduated from Ryerson, the company \u2013 then called FP Publications \u2013 offered me a job at their other newspaper: the Winnipeg Free Press<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fayerman worked at the Free Press<\/em> for five years, mostly covering the law courts. During that time, she took a year break to study at Queen\u2019s law school, focusing on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I moved to Vancouver in the mid-1980s, the law beat was already taken,\u201d she said, \u201cso I had a variety of beats, including City Hall, before landing the medical beat in 1995. I think I\u2019m probably the most experienced medical journalist in Western Canada and I\u2019ve certainly had plenty of incredible professional development opportunities through American fellowships at places like Columbia University, MIT and the National Institutes of Health. It\u2019s a highly challenging, satisfying beat for someone like me with insatiable curiosity. I cover health policy, which involves stories about the politics, economics and mechanics of the healthcare system; medical research; and clinical medicine. The latter often involves the mind-blowing \u2018wow\u2019 stories about lifesaving innovations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fayerman became interested in botanical photography about a decade ago, she said, \u201cbecause I\u2019m obsessed with plants and gardening. It\u2019s the only thing I do that could be described as mindfulness, and that\u2019s important because journalists always take our work home with us. We never stop thinking about the stories we\u2019ve just finished or the ones we\u2019re working on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Pamela Fayerman with landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander at the opening reception of Intimate Encounters: Botanical Closeups, featuring Fayerman\u2019s photography. (photo from Pamela Fayerman)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fayerman said the best way to capture the biology and anatomy of plants in detail is with a macro lens.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlowers are so often extravagant and exotic and they are a naturally ideal subject for macro photography because of their sensual shapes, sublime colours and luscious textures,\u201d she explained. \u201cPlants always have hidden, intriguing beauty, often only revealed through macro photography. I use available light and get really close to the mysterious microstructures of plants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her talent for photography has been recognized in various ways, including her being chosen as one of about 100 photographers across the country to participate in the Canada\u2019s Golden Hour Photo project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe period right after sunrise and just before sunset is when you can achieve some magic in colour photos, especially blues and mauves,\u201d she said. \u201cIn my exhibition, there\u2019s a photograph of an echeveria succulent I shot in California that is a nice demonstration of how to exploit the golden hour before sunset.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to journalism and photography, Fayerman said, \u201cFor about 15 years, I\u2019ve volunteered at the Louis Brier nursing home. In May, I put plants in the pots in the Shalom courtyard and then I tend to the plants weekly until November. My mother was a resident for a short time before her death and this was a project my family initiated in her memory. The residents and family members often express their appreciation because it beautifies the area, which is quite a serene oasis. Last year, one of the residents asked me weekly if I would plant some medical marijuana as well!\u201d<\/p>\n

Fayerman also volunteers as a board member for the Vancouver Botanical Garden Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I learned about the Yosef Wosk Library at VanDusen, that has a gallery inside it named for Roberta Mickelson, I was keen to get my first exhibition there,\u201d said Fayerman, who has been selling her photos for several years via her website, pamelafayerman.com. \u201cI\u2019ve got 18 photographs on display \u2013 all of them for sale \u2013 including works on paper and on canvas. The retail store at VanDusen is also now carrying my matted prints.\u201d<\/p>\n

Intimate Encounters runs until June 27. For more information, visit vandusengarden.org\/learn\/library.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yellow gazanias, by Pamela Fayerman. Eighteen of Fayerman\u2019s macro photos form the exhibit Intimate Encounters, which is at VanDusen until June 27. Well-known for her writing about medicine, science and health policy in the Vancouver Sun, award-winning journalist Pamela Fayerman has another area of expertise, perhaps somewhat lesser known: macro photography. Her first exhibit \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[2466,9030,2747,9031],"class_list":["post-32667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-art","tag-pamela-fayerman","tag-photography","tag-vandusen"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}