Ten Thousand Cups of Tea (2020)

Images selected are from the self-published 2020 book “Ten Thousand Cups of Tea.” The sequence of images aims to explore the act of photographic idiomatic ‘noticing’ — where light, patterns, alignment, and colour prod the visual field. The idea of a road trip or travelogue unites the photographs and echoes the Zen practice of sitting meditation but instead through a type of seeing meditation. The work marks a shift away from client and commercial work into a dedicated art practice. 

The concept of photographic vernacular pioneered by Stephen Shore serves as a point of departure for the work. A world of lush flora and ironies abound in unavoidable colour, structuring a journey from home into the muggy nights of southern Alberta, through to the San Francisco bay area and back to the prairie skies and suburbs.

A selection of this project was exhibited during the Exposure Photography Festival 2021 as part of the Emerging Photographers Showcase at Contemporary Calgary where it won the Shutter Hub Emerging Photographers Award.

“I especially like the way Louie’s work feels like we’re moving through a collection of memories that aren’t necessarily connected for us as viewers, but tell much more of a story about the person who photographed them than they do about the subjects themselves.” – Karen Harvey, Creative Director, Shutter Hub.

Here is an interview with The Camera Store about the work.