bout de papier, Vol. 31, No. 3 (2021), pp. 18–23
MY POSTINGS THROUGH GLOBAL AFFAIRS have been a wonderful experience. My husband, James Trottier, was a diplomat. And for me, living abroad meant being able to continue to do my freelance photography and journalism.
Four of our postings were in Asia, which I adore. As an Asia-phile, I have a deep respect and affection for Asian people and their cultures. Another posting was in New York City, the self-described centre of the universe.
Over the years, I have had photos exhibited in 13 solo and 21 group exhibitions. My work has been shown in Toronto, Ottawa, Bangkok, Manila and Seoul. I have also written for a variety of publications.
I always ask permission to take a person’s photograph. I also want to know more about the people I see and meet. What I love the most about this style of documentary photography is that it allows me to enter the lives of strangers, however briefly. If we share a common language, we always have a pleasant conversation; if we don’t, there’s always a feeling that we have, at least, spent an intimate few moments with each other.
Photography has been important in my life ever since I was a teenager, when I photographed for my high school yearbooks. I started studying photography when I went to Sheridan College in 1970—71 and then worked for a huge commercial photography studio in Toronto. In those days, we used enormous negative film cameras to take photos for catalogues like Eaton’s, Sears, Simpson’s, etc.
I had started publishing photos and articles in the 1970s. Later on, I also obtained a BA and MA at York University in Social Anthropology and Photography, and then, after our first posting in Bangkok, I took a (journalism) at Carleton in 1985-86.
I had first travelled overland to Asia in 1978—79 (the last period that most people could travel across Iran and Afghanistan to get to Pakistan and India). James and I did that trip together and continued around the world. It was the second time he had taken that amazing route to India. After we returned to Toronto, I had an exhibit, and published an article in a photo magazine about our trip.
When we were on our first posting in Bangkok from 1983-85, we travelled to most countries in South and Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, and also to Europe and North and East Africa. I wrote several articles to accompany my photos. In Bangkok I photographed transgender people putting on their make-up and dresses for their musical performances. They didn’t object to me, but I later heard that they refused permission to others. I published an article about them.
Before our next posting to the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in New York City, I worked at Ottawa Magazine, doing editing, writing and photography. I really enjoyed it. During that posting in New York City from 1990-94, I went across Canada twice on interesting assignments to interview and photograph immigrants and refugees for Citizenship and Immigration Canada publications. We also travelled to Europe every year while we lived in NYC.
Before the 1990s, photographers took negatives and slides; but, by that time, digital cameras started to be increasingly in use.
We returned to Bangkok on a second, fabulous posting from 1998-2003, when James headed the political/ economic program. I love it there. And of course, we always enjoyed travelling to many of the same countries we had visited before, as well as to others which were then accessible, like Bhutan. I also had the opportunity to travel with James to Myanmar again, where he was accredited, and meet Aung San Suu Kyi.
I worked in Bangkok on articles and photos for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and for the Southeast Asia Fund for Institutional and Legal Development (SEAFILD). I also had a black and white exhibit at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand of photos from the countries we had visited. I also published in several leading Asian magazines, as well as Canadian newspapers like the Toronto Star.
When we returned to Ottawa in 2003, I set up my first website with a creative high school student and his photographer father..
Our next posting was to Manila from 2007-11. The people were incredibly friendly and did not mind my taking photos of them at all. Again we travelled in the Philippines and all around Asia. I had two exhibits in Manila, published photos and created another website with a very talented Filipino man.
When we returned to Ottawa in 2011, I gave all of my darkroom equipment to the School of Photographic Arts in Ottawa. I had used it everywhere we lived to develop and print my black and white negatives, which I had taken with all of my cameras, small and large. In Manila I used digital cameras.
Our last posting was to Seoul from 2013-16, when James was also accredited to North Korea. And, as usual, I published articles, exhibited photos and travelled around Asia. The one thing that was different by that time was the introduction of photography on cell phones. Although people liked taking selfies, they didn’t like strangers taking photos of them. I switched to photos of scenery instead.
Some of the places I most loved photographing in were Cuba, India, Bhutan, Philippines, South Korea, etc… it never ends.
And now people all over the world take photos of themselves, their friends and their families with their smart phones. Diplomats and their families will be taking photos all the time when they are abroad, and they should try to exhibit or publish their work. For all of us, the experience of travel and life abroad brings immense joy — visiting, photographing and learning about other countries and cultures — and it is definitely what we enjoy most in life.
For more of my photos, look at my current website: lizalinklater.com
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 31, No. 3 (2021), pp. 18–23. Read the rest of this issue →
