As far back as I can remember there has always been a spark of something different in me that saw things in an unusual way. There was always a strong desire, a strong need, to convey my thoughts and experiences into form.

Fascinated with light and colour, my first creations of expression and creativity used watercolour or oil paints with my own drawings. I became interested in airbrushing and used T-shirts, motorcycles, walls, cars and canvas as surfaces – anything that stayed still long enough to paint. As reference for my inspirations, I began to take photos. A lot of photos. Photography was so closely related to art in composition and layout that I found it came quite naturally to me. Soon, I became totally captivated with the subject.

Dabbling with various kinds of photography over the years: like Landscape, automotive and aviation photography; dipping a little more into infrared photography, using full-time converted cameras; I then splash-dived into the roots of photography. An avid collector of vintage cameras which date back to the beginning of photography, I experimented with film photography. My journey progressed further to learn the mid-1800’s process of colodian/wetplate photography, and alternative printing techniques such as cyanotype and darkroom techniques. I travelled to Halifax, Nova Scotia during the summer of 2022 to learn from a professional wetplate photographer. Since then I have been perfecting the craft.

I would like to share with you my thoughts, imagination, and works of art that developed over the years. Please feel free to share your own thoughts or questions regarding my work by email at lazotoad@cogeco.ca.

~ Eric Baloga