Ever since he was a young teen, Mario Traina has been intrigued by the magical possibilities of photography. “I was amazed at developing images and the whole process, from camera to printing,” he says. “With a borrowed camera in hand, I started looking at scenes and people differently. Freezing an expression or scene further interested me.”
Landing a job at a photo lab gave him many opportunities to study the craft and work with, and eventually become, a professional photographer.
When Traina moved to BC in 1998 he saw immense possibilities for his work in our land- and seascapes. As his eye and instincts were honed, he was drawn to try to uncover and reveal what he sensed was there but was not easily captured.
Traina’s images offer up the unseen. Whether it is from capturing an ephemeral moment or presenting a scene using a light spectrum that is outside the human experience, what you get is what you wouldn’t see using your meagre human senses in real time. Traina utilizes black and white, infrared, and high contrast to create images that are incredibly full of energy and detail. The viewer’s eye is drawn to every part of the scene as energies and contrasts are revealed. Trees seem to radiate light, clouds seem in communication with grasses, rock and water reveal their sameness. To the viewer this give a feeling of an alternate reality.
The craft of photography offers two moments of excitement. First, the initial click, guided by instinct, years of craft, and an element of luck. And then the study and manipulation of the image, seeing what’s been captured and how to enhance it. Much of the time Traina knows what he hopes will be revealed in his work. Some hours in the studio and at the computer usually confirm it.
“Once I’ve taken a series of images, and am now in front of my computer, I’ll put the ‘potential’ image through a series of contrasts, and formats for art cards, for instance, or enlargements . . . Other tools apply to realize what originally excited me when I came upon the scene. Now I’m smiling. The shot’s a keeper.”
