![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/apr2001\/Stevekea.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Steve Kean lives, works, and enjoys creative photography from his wheelchair. His subjects are diverse, as he is intensely interested in the world around him. As Steve says, “The camera is a tool that lets me show the world as I see it!”.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest problem, as you can see in my earlier work, lies in changing my perspective. My images were all made from the same angle. Now, I try to raise or lower the camera as much as I can. Sometimes it takes a little bit of work for me to figure out how I can do it. Not being able to look though the viewfinder always makes it a crapshoot.\u201d<\/p>\n My friend, Steve Kean, and I spent an hour chatting about the technical aspects of photography–filters, the advantage of this film over that, and which exposure technique is most effective. In the end, we concluded that there are only a couple of differences between our techniques: I use only transparency films, and Steve does his photography from a wheelchair.<\/p>\n I first met Steve at Variety Village, an athletic center sponsored by The Variety Club in Toronto that caters to people with mental and\/or physical disabilities. I\u2019d been photographing a displayed dinghy that a totally disabled person was capable of sailing safely. Steve came over to chat. Steve suffers from a condition known as Spina bifida<\/em>, a relatively common birth defect that affects the proper development of the spinal cord. Besides keeping many of its patients in a wheelchair, it can affect visual motor abilities–which include hand\/eye coordination. As I came to know him better, I was amazed not so much by what Steve couldn\u2019t do, but by how much he could do, and by how determined he was to lead a normal life as a photographer.<\/p>\n This image was made with lots of depth-of-field, to show much detail ahead of and behind the focal point of the image.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n What started Steve in photography? <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMy first memory of becoming keen about photography (Steve loves this play on words!<\/em>) was when I was about ten years old, and a friend of the family came over with a Pentax 35 mm. camera. I looked at all the bells, whistles, gadgets, and things to play with, and thought, \u2018That\u2019s for me!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI remember, in high school, reading Petersen\u2019s big book of photography over and over, trying to get straight why the maximum aperture had the smallest number. I learned photography in the \u2018school of hard knocks,\u2019 using a manual camera that had automatic nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n If Steve found it easy to pick up the techno-freak techniques of photography, how did he manage the artistic aspects? My secret is that my wife is an artist. What was his? <\/strong><\/p>\n If it wasn’t for man, and all of those nasty gases he puts into the air through stacks like this one, many of my sunset pictures would be really dull. This image, handheld and using natural light, shows man and nature together. The single stack seems insignificant against the large sky and the strong sun, but the power of that one stack to affect the natural world is staggering.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cLooking at other people\u2019s work sure helps. I\u2019ve always enjoyed art and been interested in it. Perhaps as a result of my disability, I\u2019ve never had any talent for drawing or painting. A camera gave me a way to make pictures, to try to show the world what I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n Steve uses a tripod for a lot of his photography (which I would have imagined would be very difficult for him), as we all do. So, what does he find is the most frustrating aspect of working on photography from a wheelchair?<\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest problem, and you can see it in my earlier work, lies in changing my perspective. My images are all made from the same angle. Now, I try to raise or lower the camera as much as I can. Sometimes it takes a little bit of work, to figure out how I can do it. Not being able to look though the viewfinder always makes it a crapshoot.\u201d<\/p>\n What keeps bringing Steve back to photography? <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMy first attraction was the technical intrigue. I was fascinated by the camera as a toy. Now, that attracts me less and less. I\u2019m coming to think of my camera as a tool, to be able to interpret the world, and to show people the world as I see it. In the future, I hope to use the computer to improve on what I can now do in the camera alone.\u201d<\/p>\n What kind of photography does he prefer? <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI enjoy working with people. Portraits require some investment in time to get to know the person you\u2019re photographing, and to show in the photograph what I\u2019ve learned about that person.<\/p>\n \u201cFlower photography is something that I enjoy. They don\u2019t run away from you. Lifestyle photography is challenging, as I find it hard to approach people I don\u2019t know, and to try and obtain model releases if I want to use the print. I don\u2019t like to focus on any one type of photography but try to be diverse, letting my lens captures as much of the world as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n Natural light environmental portrait that shows a piece of Canada’s living history, recreated at Black Creek Pioneer Village near Toronto.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (It\u2019s interesting to note that Current<\/em>, the magazine of the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Ontario, contains a number of \u201cgrip-and-grin\u201d images, many credited to Steve.)<\/p>\n What kinds of interests take Steve away from photography?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cFriends, and my social life. I try not to let work get in the way. I\u2019d like to make photography my full-time work, some day.\u201d<\/p>\n Hindsight always being twenty-twenty, I asked Steve if he could implement his entry into photography over again, what would he do differently? Take a course, buy different equipment, develop a different attitude? He seemed pretty confident that he would make no changes.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019d do a damn thing differently. I\u2019ve done it right, for me. I really enjoyed the challenge of picking up the camera, picking up books, burning film, roll after roll. I learned it best that way.\u201d.<\/p>\n Does Steve have any formal training in photography, or is his skill all self-taught?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never sat in a classroom to learn photography. I\u2019ve taught it, but I\u2019ve never taken any classes or courses. I\u2019ve gone to art galleries, absolutely, and looked at paintings, but most of the art I\u2019ve studied has been photographic art. At least one exhibition motivated me to get out again, right away, and do some more shooting myself– in this case some black-and-white shots of various plants.\u201d<\/p>\n Does Steve prefer shooting in black-and-white or color? <\/strong><\/p>\n People have needed to be entertained or to entertain for as long as history has been recorded. This juggler made it his business to dazzle and entertain guests at Black Creek Pioneer Village, near Toronto. A fast shutter speed served to stop the action and show the concentration on his face.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like chemical darkroom work and never had the patience for it. I\u2019ll sometimes shoot in color negative film but process it as black-and-white. Perhaps with the coming of the digital darkroom, I\u2019ll be able to do the kinds of black-and-white work that always interested me.\u201d.<\/p>\n Steve runs his own photographic business, called Kean Eye Photography, as time allows. What kinds of commercial clients does he have?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI do a lot of work for charities. My employer (Steve is the Adult Services Co-ordinator for the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Ontario) gives me time to do photography during the day, and in return I give them free photography. I\u2019ve done some fashion work, on the production of a catalogue of clothing that people with disabilities can wear and look good.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done some fine art work. I had an exhibition last year at the Now Lounge in Toronto. The curator there liked my stuff, and I had a show. The charity where I work used all my photography for the calendar they produced this year, and that was a lot of fun. I\u2019ll be on the team that produces next year\u2019s calendar as well, and although my work won\u2019t be featured, I\u2019ll be a part of it.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve sold some of my photographs as fine art prints, and it\u2019s really cool to see your work on somebody\u2019s wall! That really keeps me inspired.\u201d.<\/p>\n I inquired as to any particular philosophy that guides his photography. <\/strong><\/p>\n Nature is full of drama. Placement of the sun low and off-center accentuated the drama of the backlit clouds, and made the line of trees into a pleasing silhouette, thanks in part to the lack of exposure latitude of the slide film I used for the photo. Exposure was critical to the success of this image. In order to make sure the viewer saw the darkness of the clouds as I did, I underexposed by a full stop.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI do photography because I enjoy it. First and foremost, it\u2019s for me. When I\u2019m feeling tense or stressed, I grab the camera, and go for a walk. I shoot for me, and that\u2019s why I\u2019ve been able to stick with it, care about it so much, and why I care about improving myself both as a photographer, and as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n All artists have moments of non-inspiration. So, when Steve is down in the photographic dumps, what does he do to re-motivate himself? <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI use the camera, as a gadget, to refocus on photography. I pick it up, and just shoot. I once spent six months without shooting, so perhaps it\u2019s my fault if Mr. Kodak\u2019s stock went down. One day, I picked up the camera when the light was coming nicely through the blinds in my apartment and started shooting–just photos of the cat, sprawled out, and that got me started again.\u201d<\/p>\n Does Steve have any words of inspiration, for upcoming photographers? <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cPlay. Burn lots of film, and have fun!\u201d<\/p>\n By Michael Goldstein<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/apr2001\/flwr00-15.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/apr2001\/land00-03.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/apr2001\/pepl00-03.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/apr2001\/pepl00-19.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/apr2001\/land00-15.jpg\")
<\/p>\n