For the past decade, I’ve been a nomad. At first it was a gap year, then a year to figure out what I wanted to do. I worked as a gun salesman, quasi civil-engineering technologist, front desk agent, hotel night manager, gondola operator, industrial snowmaker (honest), assistant financial accountant (how’d that happen?), bartender, industrial snowmaker (again), and environmental data collector and. Even this past winter, I worked as a ski patroller.
But all those jobs were just to pay the bills; I just wanted to tell stories.
In 2008, I enrolled at Western Academy of Photography in Victoria, British Columbia. Writing and photography became my craft. I started freelancing. I wrote for Viva Travel Guides and made photos for Monte Cinco Wines. I improved. I started to pitch magazines. I got rejected. My confidence plummeted. I worked harder. I started publishing work on Matador Network. Before I knew it, I turned cycling across Argentina into a series of published articles and a press trip. The press trip turned into my first magazine feature.
After years abroad, I returned to Canada in 2011 and settled in Jasper National Park.
I now balance my photography and writing between three genres: Adventure Sports, Travel, and Wedding Photography. I also have a growing interest in conservation.
Adventure Sports
I wrote on my blog, Adventure Freelancer, that ‘Life as an adventure freelancer – re: a photographer and writer focused on outdoor adventure – isn’t a choice. It’s a calling.”
Over the past five years, I’ve hauled my photography equipment on long bike tours, across mountain traverses, and into avalanche terrain. It’s rare that I am not within reach of my camera. I am never without a moleskin and pen.
While much of my current adventure sport work has focused on personal experience, I hope to branch out and cover other athletes and adventurers soon. Not only am I a photographer and writer who can draw media coverage to a story but I can also contribute directly to an expedition. I hold a 90-hour Advanced Wilderness First Responder and Canadian Avalanche Association Avalanche Operations Level 1 certificates. I’ve also completed dozen of multi-day backcountry hiking, cycling, and ski trips.
Travel
This summer (2012), I worked with both the Canadian Tourism Commission and Matador Network on a really cool initiative called Explore Canada Like a Local. Over six months, Matador and the CTC sent journalists on independent trips around the country. These weren’t fam tours or press trips. They were journalist-designed itineraries that captured in-depth stories about people, place and culture. While the initiative featured trips in each province, I was stoked to cover northern Saskatchewan and Alberta’s National Parks.
Check out these links to see samples of my work from this project:
- Who You Meet In the Middle of Nowhere, Saskatchewan
- On the Road From Banff to Jasper
- What I learned in Saskatchewan
- Five Classic Rides In Jasper, Alberta
Wedding Photography
During weddings, I challenge myself to come up with creative images that will make your wedding photographs memorable. I won’t hesitate to stick you in a row boat. In the past year, I’ve shot a few weddings and I hope to make it a bigger part of my business in 2013. Please see these two galleries to get an idea of my photographic style:
Education
2008-2009 Western Academy of Photography
Location: Victoria, British Columbia
Program: Written Image
Result: Graduate with a diploma in journalism and photojournalism
2011 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Class: Creative Editing and the Visual Story
Photo Essay: El Gran Lustrador
2010 Matador New Media School
Location: Online
Class: Travel Photography
Contact Info:
Jeff Bartlett
Box 2890, Jasper, Alberta, Canada, T0E 1E0
1-780-931-2962
jeff@photojbartlett.com