Artist Spotlight - Lisa Hart
Submitted by Lisa Hart
Lisa Hart
Photography became a professional interest for me about twenty-two years ago, when Zellers offered me the chance to move into a full-time position as lead operator of their new photo lab. You might say I started at the finish and worked backwards. I credit my early training to the lab’s customers, as I learned as much from developing and printing their failures as their successes.
Connecting photography to my work as a children’s freelance writer seemed like a natural progression. Whenever possible I began searching out opportunities to take my own supporting photos. On one occasion, I went so far as to adopt a pet hamster as a model. Not such a bad investment since it resulted in my first published magazine photo credit, and the article went into multiple reprints.
For me, photography has been a flexible medium, connecting to many areas of my life. When I applied it to my love of all things feline, I began entering cat calendar contests and producing scrapbook Christmas cards for friends and family featuring my fur babies. I am still asked from time to time how I get my cats to pose for me. The secret is simple – one-part patience, two parts luck and three parts bribery.
A chance to explore the field of marketing and promotion shone yet another light on the roles of photography in the workplace. This eventually led me to open a Shutterstock account. When my path crossed with a few skilled graphic designers they introduced me to Photoshop and opened up the world of photographic art to me. I find myself delighted by the support and encouragement offered by the Kawartha Art Gallery.
