We ask artist Jesse Louttit to name his favourite image in the Uncharted Waters photography exhibition.
I created my images as diptychs, so I couldn’t pick just one image. I had to choose a pair and it wasn’t an easy decision. One of the best parts about this project was spending time with the people I photographed. My favourite pairing of images is that of Wilfred, the Flagman, and the Leslie Street Spit. Wilfred was the first portrait I made in the series and I couldn’t have had a more easy-going person to photograph. I was really fortunate because the process of taking such a close portrait with shallow depth of field and a large format film camera isn’t easy. If the subject moved an inch in any direction, the photograph would be totally out of focus. Getting to meet Wilf – and ending up with a portrait more interesting than I ever expected – set the bar high for the rest of the project.
That day, I think I only took three frames of Wilf, the first a polaroid-type photograph I left with him as a thank you. Here is a photo of that polaroid sitting on the back of his truck, propped up by his gloves.
