7 Years Later...

October  2019

I launched this project in January 2012…just over 7 years ago. In June of that same year, after 6 frames, a glitch forced a re-start with a new roll of film.

In July 2013 after 18 months on the road and 22 frames, one of our participants inadvertently tripped the camera shutter without being in the photo. So...the camera went back to Montreal to re-start a third time with a blank roll of film.

We have now reached 28 frames with the 29th about to be taken by Photographer Douglas Kirkland in the Hollywood Hills. I will pick up the camera from him then start planning to move it to western Canada… then back to Toronto then Portugal and finally returning to Toronto for the 37^th and final frame.

MARCH 2020 UPDATE

After my return from the UK on the 9th of March 2020 I had planned to drive to Toronto on the 14th then get on the VIA Canadian train to Vancouver on the 15th. I would have arrived on the 19th with the 36Frames camera then driven to Victoria BC for 4 nights. During that time I was going to meet with Andy Clark, Don Denton and Ted Grant and have them each do their self-portrait. This would have taken us to Frame 33. Due to the Corona-Virus outbreak those plans were shelved and now postponed to the fall of 2020.

Nick Park, who created the Wallace & Gromit series, took 7 years to complete his first 24-minute animated feature "Grand Day Out". It earned him an Oscar nomination.

I have received great support and understanding from everyone involved… with some praising my patience and doubting my sanity…which has always been in doubt.

Thanks again to everyone!
Peter Martin

PROJECT TIMELINE 

 

January 2012 -      Camera goes to New York for the first two of 36Frames

 

March 2012 -         Camera goes on display at the world renowned Houston FotoFest

 

April 2012 -           Camera moves to Montreal 

 

June 2012 -           Glitch forces re-start of project in Montreal

 

July 2012 -            Camera moves to Ottawa 

September 2012 -  Camera moves to Toronto

July 2013 -            Glitch forces 2nd restart.        

 

August 2013 -        Camera back in Montreal, moves to Ottawa 

 

September 2013 -  Camera in Brockville, Ontario

 

September 2013 -  Camera moves back to Toronto

 

November 2015 -   The 23rd frame is taken 

 

January 2016 -       The 24th frame is taken 

 

April 2016 -           The 25th frame is taken 

 

December 2016 -   Camera moves to Newark New Jersey

  

March 2017 -         The 26th frame is taken

  

April 2017 -           Camera moves to New York City

 

May 2017 -            The 27th frame is taken

 

January 2019 -       The 28th frame is taken 

 

August 2019 -        Pick up camera from New York City

 

September 2019 -   Fly to Los Angeles to have the 29th frame taken

 

March 2023 -        After a 3 year delay due to Covid, I finally make it to Vancouver, taking the VIA Canadian train across the country.

March 2023 -          The 30th frame is taken by Don Denton

March 2023 -          The 31st frame is taken by Andy Clark

      

 

Original Letter Sent March 2011

Dear ______,

A few years ago I started reflecting on my career and of all the Canadian Photographers, Photojournalists, and Photo Editors that had influenced my work and my life. Some I worked with for many years, some I rubbed shoulders with, others I have yet to meet. I might have been inspired by their work or advice… or it might have been a simple act of kindness to a young photographer growing up in Toronto.

I edited a long list to 36 names and yours was on it.

Here’s the plan:

Once I hear back from all 36 names, I will compile a geographical list from West to East.
The first person on that list will be sent a case inside which will be a 35mm camera body with one lens. Inside the camera will be 1 roll of Tri-X 36 exposure film. I will also include a long cable release.
I will not include a flash…up to you whether you need one or not.

Your assignment is simple. You are to take a self-portrait using only ONE FRAME. You will NOT WIND THE FILM, just pack up the camera and ship it to the next person on the list. If one person screws up we start over at the beginning, but there’s roughly 1000 years of combined experience among this group…it will work!

The photo MUST be taken by your-self. It can be a head-shot, a full body shot, but it’s got to be clean…no private parts please!!!

Once the last person on the list has finished, the camera will be returned and I will process the film. Remember that your position on the list only relates to where you live, but I can tell you the 37th FRAME is reserved for the memory of Frank Lennon from the Toronto Star. I’ll figure out what to do about that when the time comes.

This is a celebration of Life, of Film, of Analogue and a tribute to those who were and remain an important part of my past and where I end up as a photographer in the years to come.
The end result will be something extremely unique that could never and will never again be replicated: Self-portraits of some of the top names in Canadian Photography and Photo Editing on one roll of uncut film.

Once everyone has been contacted and all have agreed, then specific information will follow. I would like to finish this by the end of the year.

I would be honoured if you will agree to take part! Please contact me anytime and I’ll be happy to answer any questions. I look forward to hearing from you!

Best Regards
Peter

Final List Of Participants (January 2019 Update)

1.   John Mahoney -  (Frame #1)

2.   Michel Gravel - (Frame #2)

3.   Paul Chaisson - (Frame #3)

4.   Rod McIvor -  (Frame #4)

5.   Barry Gray -  (Frame #5)

6.   Gordon Beck -  (Frame #6)

7.   Doug Ball -  (Frame #7)

8.   Peter Bregg -  (Frame #8)

9.   Norm Betts -  (Frame #9)

10. Dick Loek -  (Frame #10)

11. Jac Holland -  (Frame #11)

12. Dave Cooper -  (Frame #12)

13. Gail Harvey -  (Frame #13)

14. Hugh Wesley -  (Frame #14)

15. Tibor Kolley -  (Frame #15)

16. Peter Robertson -  (Frame #16)

17. Boris Spremo -  (Frame #17)

18. Bill Majesky -  (Frame #18) 

19. Dwight Storring -  (Frame #19)

20. Paul Wodehouse - (Frame #20)

21. Bob Carroll - (Frame #21)

22. Erin Elder - (Frame #22)

23. Hans Deryk - (Frame #23)

24. Andrew Stawicki - (Frame #24)

25. Julien LeBourdais - (Frame #25)

26. Gary Hershorn - (Frame #26)

27. Denis Paquin - (Frame #27)

28. Steve Simon - (Frame #28)

29. Douglas Kirkland- (Frame #29)

30. Andy Clark - (Frame #30)

31. Don Denton - (Frame #31)

32. Gary Bartlett - 

33. Dick Wallace -

34. Maria Mann -

35. Phil Bingley -

36. Barbara Cole

Frank Lennon (deceased) The 37th Frame 
_______________________________________________________________________________________

IMAGES FROM OUR LATEST ATTEMPT

As of today, February 27^th 2014, we are back up to 12 frames on the latest attempt to get 36 Photographers and Photo-Editors on 1 roll of film.

Below are the results of the recent attempt at 36Frames…with 22 images taken. I processed the film last week and here are the images from that roll.

Frame Number 1 - Michel Gravel

Frame Number 2 - John Mahoney

Frame Number 3 - Paul Chaisson

Frame Number 4 - Gordon Beck

Frame Number 5 - Rod MacIvor

Frame Number 6 - Barry Gray

Frame Number 7 - Hugh Wesley

Frame Number 8 - Andrew Stawicki

Frame Number 9 - Gail Harvey

Frame Number 10 - Dave Cooper

Frame Number 11 - Norm Betts

Frame Number 12 - Peter Bregg

Frame Number 13 - Doug Ball

Frame Number 14 - Hans Deryk

Frame Number 15 - Dick Loek

Frame Number 16 - Jac Holland

Frame Number 17 - Peter Robertson

Frame Number 18 - Boris Spremo

Frame Number 19 - Yuri Dojc

Frame Number 20 - Bill Majesky

Frame Number 21 - Erin Elder

Frame Number 22 - The Frame That Ended This Attempt

Hello to Friends, Family, Fellow Photographers, Photo Editors, Photo-Collectors, Lovers of Film and Analogue:

In January of 2012, on a day where Kodak officially declared bankruptcy, I officially announced the launch of my 36Frames Project. This had been 3 years in the making and that day seemed the right time to launch.

A few years ago I started reflecting on my 35 year career and of all the Canadian Photographers, Photojournalists, and Photo Editors that had influenced my work and my life. Some I worked with for many years, some I rubbed shoulders with, others I have yet to meet. I might have been inspired by their work or advice… or it might have been a simple act of kindness to a young photographer growing up in Toronto. The resulting group make up the participants of this project.

One camera; One roll of Tri-X; 36 Self portraits by some of Canada's best photojournalists and photo-editors: roughly 1000 years of combined experience. All on 1 roll of uncut film and when processed will be impossible to replicate digitally. This is a celebration of film, of analogue, of life and....of Kodak.Once the camera is returned, I will drink 2 shots of Vodka to calm my nerves, then hand-process the film. That will be video-taped.

A monograph will be created with all 36 self portraits; the roll of UN-CUT film will framed, backlit and mounted; a traveling show will result and and hopefully this project will help support Canada's photojournalism programs.

Thanks to everyone and wish us luck!
Best Regards

Peter Martin

(P.S. The 37th Frame will be dedicated to the memory of Toronto Star photographer Frank Lennon...who gave an awe-struck and very nervous 16 year old a guided tour of the Star darkrooms...many years ago).

Norm Betts Hangs Above Centre Ice - #11

Another one of the three original Toronto SUN photographers, along with 36Frames participants David Cooper and Jac Holland, Norm has raised the bar when it comes to his 36Frames self-portrait.

He submitted this behind-the-scenes video and for all who know Norm...his legendary antics and never ending quest to get the perfect shot...it's 2.5 minutes well spent!

Peter Bregg Takes Frame - #12

Photojournalist Peter Bregg has traveled to more than 70 countries in 40 years covering a host of assignments including eight Olympic Games, Stanley Cups, World Series, Presidential trips, Vietnam in 1973, the Iran hostage crisis in 1979-80, and the imposition of martial law on the Solidarity movement in Poland in 1981. He was also in New York to cover the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001.

He was chief photographer at Maclean’s for 17 years as well as a photographer and editor with the Canadian Press and the Associated Press in London, New York, and Washington, DC.

Some of his many awards include a World Press Photo Award, NPPA Regional Photographer of the Year, Canadian Press Photo of the Year, Eastern Canada News Photographers Association Awards, a Canadian National Newspaper Award, and White House News Photographers Association Awards.

 

Peter Robertson - Frame #17

Peter was graphics editor for the Toronto Star for 19 years and a founding editor of PhotoSensitive. He has been the photo editor of several books and has lectured and conducted seminars on photography and communications at newspapers, community colleges, universities and at the National Archives in Ottawa. 

In 1986 he began a 22-year teaching career, first at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario, and later at Ryerson University in Toronto. 

Boris Spremo - Frame #18

Arguably Canada's most recognized Photojournalist, Boris  Spremo joined the Globe and Mail staff in 1962 and moved to The Toronto Star in 1966, where he retired in 2001.

During his career, Spremo has won over 280 national and international awards for photography, including being the first Canadian to capture a First Prize Gold Medal in the World Press Photo Competition in the Hague in 1966.

In 1997, Spremo was awarded Canada's highest honour, the "Order of Canada" (C.M.) for his years of photographic excellence with a presentation by Governor General Romeo Le Blanc at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.  

The loves of his life are his Wife, his 4 grown daughters...and his '59 Caddy (pictured below...with the 36Frames camera case)

 

   

Yuri Dojc - Frame #19

In 1968, when Russian tanks were rolling into Czechoslovakia, Yuri's status as a "summer student" in London, England was amended to "refugee". 

Flash forward to the present and Dojc's hometown of Humenne has named a gallery after their native son. A major player on the photographic stage, prestigious ad agencies and designers revere his unique artistic vision. 

Often compared to two great fashion visionaries: Guy Bourdain and Helmut Newton, Yuri's work has migrated to such diverse subjects as  "What Remained," which pays homage to Slovak Holocaust survivors and garnered a medal of honour from the Slovak Ambassador to the United States.

An accompanying documentary film on the project is in post-production. Photos from his recent travels in Rwanda, Dojc's first trip to Africa, appeared as double-page spread in the French daily Liberation.

Bill Majesky - Frame #20

After leaving high school, I took a full time job at Black’s Camera in Scarborough. On weekends I went to as many events as I could in Toronto, trying to get through any door that would lead me to a newspaper job.

I met Bill Majesky, then a staff photographer at the Oakville Journal Record, during the annual Toronto Island CHIN pick-nick.  Six months later, he tracked me down and called, asking if I’d be interested in a weekend shift at the Oakville Journal Record. That was the beginning of my career.

Bill moved on to the Toronto Sun and a successful free-lance career himself.

Erin Elder - Frame #21

Erin Elder has been a leading figure in promoting the achievements of photographers and encouraging an appreciation of photojournalism for the past 18 years. 
In 1990, she began working at Maclean's magazine, Canada's national news magazine, as photographer and editor. After moving to Hong Kong in 1995, she became photo editor on Asiaweek magazine. 
In 1998 she became photo editor of Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, which in 2005 won a gold medal from the Society of Newspaper Design for Best Use of Photography. Under her guidance, The Globe and Mail continued to win numerous awards. 
Elder was the Canadian nominator for the Joop Swart Masterclass from 2003 - 2007 and World Press Photo jury member in 2007 and 2008. 
In 2008, she decided to move into Digital Media at the newspaper where she is responsible for business development in the online and other new media sectors.

Tibor Kolley - Frame #22

Tibor Kolley graduated from Ryerson's photography program in 1970. After freelancing for six years, he became a staff photographer for The Globe. He has won National Newspaper Awards for Spot News, the Canadian Press Picture of the year, nine Canadian Press Picture of the month awards and the National News Photographers Association's Photographer of the Year (Region2).

His photo of 75-year-old Canadian D-Day Veteran Alfred Finley still brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.