INDIVIDUAL HISTORY
Natalie Schönfeld Howard

Photography is the medium I choose to discover the realm of perceptions and expressions through which the human being reveals him/herself in this world. My passion as a photographer is social documentary work and photojournalism; life as it is encountered with all its expressions and passionate celebrations of faith-- even in the hardest moments.

I was born in Caracas, Venezuela. I immigrated with my family in 1991 to Toronto, Canada and I currently work as a freelance photographer. When I started photography it provided me with a way of communicating in a new country, surrounded by a new culture, feeling all the differences and missing the familiarity I grew up with. In 1997, I graduated with honours from Ryerson Polytechnic University with a Bachelor of Applied Arts (BAA) in photographic arts; I participated in a ‘History of Photography’ Workshop in France (1996); and I spent one year in Jerusalem, Israel as part of a student exchange program with Bezalel Art School (1995). Now photography has become the familiar in distant worlds of similarities that I constantly seek.

Behind the images I seek, lays a need for communication and understanding. It is a need to open certain doors into other realms of existence and present them to the public in order to create awareness and discussion about different conditions of being which, far from being detached and separate stories, constitute all together an intimate portrait of human legacy.

My work is a collection of different places that speak of different times. It is artistic, investigative and journalistic. It is a journey of discovery of the human being: his behavior, his activities, his gesture forms, his relationship to the external landscape, his beliefs, the physical expressions of his spirituality and ultimately an exploration of his internal landscape.

I am respectful of the lives identified with the edge. That point in which the human senses take a step back to rearrange themselves taking chaos and struggle as the starting point and the liberation of the spirit as part of the transformation in what becomes a rite of passage.

Since 1996 till present I have been producing photographic documentary and photo based work about the reality of individuals who are both deaf and blind- series: Perceptions of Light. It is a body of work that illustrates their everyday life, their world of perceptions and different methods of communication, their incredible strength to rise above their disabilities and their will to live despite their constant struggles. (Exhibited at the Festival in Den Bosch, Netherlands- 2007; 14th Deafblind International World Conference, Perth, Australia- 2007; Alliance Française de Toronto- 2006; Large Outdoor Screen Projection, Toronto- International Festival of Photography Contact 2003; Nathan Shiff Gallery, Toronto- Contact 2001).

My work has also been about the relationship between man and his environment, and man and spirit: Festival of Holi, India (Harbourfront Centre, Toronto- 2002; Nathan Shiff Gallery, Toronto- Contact 2000). God save the Ganges- explores the reality of the Sacred River Ganges (Davis Green Gallery, Toronto- Contact 2001). His World: La Mar- explores the relationship between Venezuelan fisherman and the sea (traveling exhibition: Toronto and Ottawa Canada. Caracas Venezuela, Bogotá Colombia, and New York USA, between 1999-2001). Liliana Medina- 13 yrs old and a mother- explores teenage motherhood in South America (10th Mews Studio, Toronto – Contact 2000). Tueri: A Look Within- explores spiritual experiences (Ryerson Gallery, Toronto- 1997; Gallery 44, Center for Contemporary Photography, Toronto- 1999).

My publications include the book Perceptions of Light – Canada, a photographic documentary about the lives of deafblind individuals in Canada (2003); front cover of A seed in the Pocket of their Blood by Rafi Aaron (Canada-1997); Life is Else (where?), a photographic documentary about the lives of 42 children in the orphanage “Hogar Corazon de Jesus” (Caracas, Venezuela- 1995). I was awarded the “DC Bradley and Harrowsend Holdings Best Photography Award” at the 40th Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (Toronto, Canada- 2001), nominated for the World Press Masterclass (2001), First and Second Prize at the “Nuevo Mundo Israelita” Photographic Contest (Caracas, Venezuela, 1998), and First Prize at the Israel’s 50th Anniversary Exhibition (Toronto, Canada- 1998).

I have been influenced by: Minor White for the way his sense perceptions led him to capture the spirit and life he felt everywhere; by Margaret Bourke-White, Dorothea Lange and Mary-Ellen Mark for their strengths in producing visually and emotionally compelling images that speak of their sensitivity as women; by Sebastio Selgado, Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier Bresson, and Larry Towell, for the timeless human documents they have created; by Pablo Neruda, Gabriel García Marquez, and Isabel Allende for the echo their words have left upon me; by the Impressionists for their understanding of light and the enhancement of the viewer’s perception caused by their brushwork; by Van Gogh for the intensity of his feelings through his palette of colors and the vitality of his brushwork; by Degas for his compositional discovery of the subject as it is found in space-- bringing the viewer inside the reality of the subject yet not being limited by the frame; by Théodore Géricault’s painting: ‘Raft of the Medusa’, for his strong visual composition and portrayal of human emotions; and by Notan and Zen design, for their simplicity.

What motivates my work is a passionate drive towards social awareness and my love for the image. For that language that knows no boundaries, for those crucial moments of transition, transcendence and passage that makes histories of our lives. I believe it is important to challenge people’s perceptions of one another, in order for the mind to open itself to the other lives around us. I see myself as a visual storyteller: sharing the stories of people in search or struggle for humanity, their connection to one another and their environment.

About my art and my career, photography has taught me much about the nature of people, about survival and adaptability to any situation. It has allowed me to expand my awareness and my understanding of people in very different personal and social conditions. Photography provides me with a personal bridge for understanding others and for stepping into their realities without judgment.