Carsten Arnold
I’m an explorer at heart, and have travelled to every corner of British Columbia by highway, backroads, mining roads, and forest service roads. My travels have taken me throughout the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, including all the way to the Arctic Ocean by road, and parts of Alaska.
Those journeys are an important part of my photography. Being somewhere firsthand, feeling its scale, weather, isolation, and sound, changes the way I understand a place. My fine art work may begin with the landscape, but it is not intended simply to document what was there. I am interested in how a place is remembered and felt.
My relationship with photography began long before the digital era. I learned the craft through film, darkrooms, printing, and the discipline of working carefully with every image. That early experience still shapes the way I approach image making today, even though the tools and creative possibilities have changed dramatically.
Over the years my work has also included magazine publishing, digital imaging, computer technology, teaching, speaking engagements, and many years of professional full time photography. Each of those experiences strengthened my understanding of visual communication, reproduction, the science of colour, and both the technical and artistic side of creating finished photographic work.
Much of the inspiration for my fine art photography comes from time spent travelling and exploring the Canadian wilderness and beyond. Through my Capture Reel Adventure Youtube channel, I continue to canoe, hike, camp, and travel through many of the landscapes that eventually find their way into my artwork.
Alongside my fine art practice, I continue to accept select architecture and interior photography assignments. Over nearly two decades, I have photographed more than 6,000 residential, commercial, and hospitality spaces across Canada.
My goal is to create images that hold attention, invite reflection, and leave the viewer with a sense of connection to the place, whether that connection comes from memory, imagination, or simply the feeling of being there.
