This is an image made by exposing overlapping negatives, the individual images intermix to create a new one. This reclining couple appear as watery reflections over the anemones in the overlapping photo.

This is an image made by exposing overlapping negatives, the individual images intermix to create a new one. Crystals forming in a Himalayan stream the nude figure overlaps almost as a reflection on the surface of the water.

This is an image made by exposing overlapping negatives, the individual images intermix to create a new one.

This image is one singular image, it’s a straight photo, un-manipulated.
It expresses Nigel’s fascination with reflections and contains within it the essence of what he strives to create in his artwork. Layers of reflections, in a perspective encapsulating the many facets of an individual experience.

Nigel Brooks Peer describes this as Cubist Photo-Realism; Cubism depicts object from multiple perspectives creating an image with greater context, showing impossibly more than you could experience at once. Photo Realism usually references the adaptation of pseudo-photographic detail in art, attention to details especially reflections, highlights, lens flares and distortions … art has been long been influenced by photography and photography has reciprocated by truly becoming art.

This image is comprised of 2 source images; one of Stonehenge ( Wiltshire, England ) and one of the Terracotta Warrior statues ( Xian, Shaanxi Province, China ). Nigel is extensively well traveled, and he develops his art from hand exposed overlapping negatives, in the darkroom. The resulting composition is digitized and prepared for contemporary print output. These prints are unparalleled in print quality and longevity, 200 year certified archival canvas with a water-resistant acrylic laminate applied. It seems somehow appropriate to strive for a long lasting image of these ancient symbols of humanity.

These fascinating images are created the hard way, in the darkroom with overlapping negatives, hand exposed on photographic paper. Nigel has traveled extensively to more than 50 countries, collecting candid portraits and culturally relevant images. He juxtaposes the images together in ways that sometimes result in harmonies and sometimes in tension. His early works have a bite to them, often provocative, and sometimes shocking, his later works are tempered with a sensitivity that took a decade to form. Recently he’s been shooting digitally and we’ve been adapting a series to contemporary giclee printing on  archival canvas.

The official ceremonies are conducted at the village green, and followed by live entertainment in the afternoon. This year Elgin with Pacific Rim Arts Society had a table featuring several donated pieces of art to fund raise for the Pacific Rim Summer Festival a week long event with a focus on performence based art and music in the area. Elgin Ambrose, Nigel Brooks Peer and I donated pieces in support of the raffle.

Living in the Tofino , Ucluelet area, represented by Mark Penney Gallery in Ucluelet Nigel brooks Peer has recently been recognized by National Geographic.

www.nigelbrookspeer.com nigelbrookspeer@gmail.com

Throughout my life, I’ve been a free thinker and traveller, who passionately expresses through mixed media arts. I’ve explored the world for years, getting in touch with how rich and poor people live all over the world.

My travel and experiences inspire me to make art that gets people thinking about the conventions we live in, our past, our culture and our part in it.

Born April 27, 1972 in Vancouver, B.C. Took very fist picture with a disposable black and white camera when i was 6 in the redwood forest in California . I was very close to my grandfather, we share the same birthday. After he died, I picked up his camera and started using it taking photos.

Growing up in Surrey, I witnessed racial violence and saw farmland and forest change into suburban sprawl. This opened my eyes at a young age to how different cultures collide and grow together.

My whole understanding of the planet and where we are today is reflected in my art. Seeing and experiencing all different cultures through travel allowed me to understand the global picture, and how we affect the planet and each other.

After high school I went to South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore and got my first taste of world travel. I returned home to attend college studying history and philosophy, then art through sculpture and ceramics. After graduating, I continued my travels through eastern Mediterranean and Africa visiting historical sites in Egypt, Greece, Turkey and Italy.

Inspired to play with art further I attended Emily Carr focusing on ceramics sculpture . In my work I explored the juxtaposition between earth and gravity. I also experimented with crystalline glazes on ceramics . Leaded to photography for easier dialog for everyday people to challenge our understanding of international culture , modern society , and our environment .

I traveled again in Europe seeking new expression for myself. I got involved in photo documenting what was going on in countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic and Hungary. I was developing my eye and becoming more of a photographer. I shot rolls and rolls of film because it felt like the right thing to do. I didn’t understand what I was doing until years later when I used these images in my current work. International Social commentary …

In the middle of art school I continued my world travels through all the major continents, doing documentary photography in India, Cambodia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Peru, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and such far off places such as Papua New Guinea, Tibet and Rapa Nui. Landing in morocco on September  11 , 2001 .

Traveling all over western Canada , exploring or culture , from the oil patch , to organic farms . Lived in work camps in the frozen north , now in small resort town Tofino .

Feeling that I have a voice that needs to be heard, I’m now fully involved in creating art though digital photography looking at the reflections we all need in our time . Recently recognized by National Geographic . Readdressing old work and digital remastering and printing with contemporary giclee print technology. I’m also getting involved in meditation, following a spiritual existence that I’ve always felt. Energetic Elemental Zen …

*Education

1998 – 2003  Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design, Vancouver, B.C.

1992 – 1996  Kwantlen University College, Surrey, B.C.