Featured Artist of The Month: Don White

I was born in a small Canadian prairie town in 1960. My family moved to the west coast of Canada when I was a child and it was there where I grew up. At the encouragement of my grade seven school teacher, I joined the school’s photography club at the age of 13 and quickly discovered a passion for taking and developing photographs. I would read photography books and magazines with a voracious appetite, and then take my camera and experiment when time away from school and homework would allow. By the age of 15, I had convinced my father to convert a space in our house to a fully equipped darkroom, and it was there that I spent many an evening as a teenager, learning to develop film and print my images, in both colour and black and white. I became proficient in all facets of darkroom work, including slide film processing and printing.

Living in Canada exposed me to many beautiful landscapes, and these became my preferred subjects when shooting. In my younger years, I entered various contests and won assorted ribbons and awards – with a notable one being that I was chosen as Young Photographer of the Year by the Photography Association of North America. As time went on, I found the contest environment was too constraining and decided to forego further entries as I have never really sought or needed the accolades or approval of others regarding my photographs. Several years ago, I decided to make my images visible and available to the world through stock photography sites. Through this avenue, my work has been sold throughout the world and has been featured in books, magazines, websites, advertising and various other media. However, I take pictures first and foremost to please only myself and not any specific marketplace.

With the advent of the digital world, I converted from darkroom work to using the computer and once again through reading and experimentation, learned and continue to learn and acquire these new skills and methods. I find that digital image processing reflects a more true representation of the original images than was possible in the darkroom.

Over the years, I have amassed an extensive collection of camera systems including Canon, Hasselblad, and have recently added Olympus for traveling. However, my mantra has always been, that it is not the camera that is responsible for a good photograph, but the eye of the photographer – knowing how to choose and frame his subject and in his patience and persistence in his timing.

I attained a Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree and practiced for almost 30 years, all the while trying to carve out time to pursue my true passion of photography. A few years ago, at the age of 51, I retired from my career as a dentist, and moved to the small rural community of Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island. I am now able to devote myself more fully to my passion and have been able to travel abroad and expand my repertoire. I have even convinced my wife to pick up a camera, and we find great joy in capturing our world through our lenses and sharing our images with others.

It is my sincere hope, that my images bring joy and foster curiosity and awe regarding the world we are privileged to live in.

Dr. Don White – DDS, BSc

If you would like to see more of his work click below to view his entire gallery!