Photographer Nicholas Halpin has been intrigued by qualities in nature since he was a child.
He strives to capture those qualities on film.
“You can’t capture it, it’s too elusive, but you can allude to it,” he said.
He creates images that spark the viewers imagination, so they are pulled toward the photograph, he said.
“When a person stands before them, they get transported to another world or another way of life,” Halpin said.
The Gabriola resident describes himself as a contemplative photographer.
For years, Halpin worked as a research technologist, but turned his attention to photography full time in 2000.
Halpin has taken about a dozen trips to the Himalayas, visiting Tibet, Nepal, India and Pakistan. His first trip to the mountain range was inspired by a friend’s photograph of a village.
“I remember thinking, ‘I can’t believe a place like this still exists,’” said Halpin.
He meant to spend a short time in the mountains and then travel to other places around the world, but ended up spending a year in the Himalayas.
Halpin is displaying his photography during the Tripping - A Differing World View exhibit at Gabriola’s Hive Emporium, located at 9-575 North Rd., until Sept. 12.
The exhibit features a variety of images Halpin has photographed over the years.
As a father of a seven-year-old son, Halpin has curtailed some of his travels. Some of his most recent photographs were taken in France and the Gulf Islands.
His most recent work is about capturing elements of light.
“I spend hours trying to perfect the quality of light,” he said.
He is printing his photographs in his Eyes Wide Open Photography studio on canvas. Halpin said canvas gives a very unique quality of light to the photograph.
“You get a sense of glow and life you don’t get in a traditional print,” said Halpin.
For more info go to www.eyeswideopen.ca.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com