Standing in the middle of the main gallery at Parkside Art Gallery, Teresa Donck gazes almost in disbelief at her framed photographs displayed on its walls all around her.
The 20-year-old emerging photographer spent many hours as a child and a young teen in this very room, taking dance lessons, arts and crafts classes, and a host of other events and art shows that drew her there. She never dreamed that one day a show of her own work would bring her back.
“Dichotomy,” (a division or contrast between two things that are, or are represented as, being opposed or entirely different) is the title she gave the distinctly divided display, and it runs from Jan. 11 to Feb. 9.
The name is a good choice and, perhaps, the only choice for the collection of new work, which on one half, represents her country roots, and on the other, tells of her new city life and the different perspectives it brings.
"They're two contradictory groups and the only commonality is me," says Donck.
Her stepfather is renowned photographer Chris Harris and his influence can be seen in the landscape images in her show. He gave Donck her first good camera as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago and has been her mentor as she explores the world of photography.
He also provided her opportunities to accompany him on shoots, such as a 10-day fly-in to the Chilcotin area and Jacobson Lake where she captured her breath-taking images of a glacier and its floating icebergs.
The urban side of her show is all her own, but influenced by skills she learned as a production photographer during an eight-month stint in a Sears portrait studio.
She now put those skills artfully to work in a place that not many photographers have an opportunity to venture – into the world of "gay and queer," relationship and wedding portraiture.
Having a gay family member, it's a place where she's comfortable and intuitive when photographing and she thinks it may have possibilities as a niche market for her up the road.
Currently, Donck is concentrating on her studies at Langara College where she's further developing her creative skills and expanding her knowledge of different aspects of art.
She made a trip home for the opening of her show on Jan. 11 and says she can't wait for more friends and members of the community to drop by and see what she's accomplished.
"It's an amazing feeling having people I know, wanting to see my show. I never expected to be here."