Janet Best, working tirelessly to get the shot

EDITOR’S NOTE:

I am excited to put a spotlight on the work of our diocesan photographer, Janet Best.

As the editor of this paper, as well as a member of the diocesan communications team, I am so grateful to have access to the high quality pictures Janet consistently delivers. Janet’s work elevates our visual impact and makes it easier to tell a story. As Saskia Rowley, the Art Director of the Anglican Journal said recently “Janet takes some of the very best photographs I’ve ever seen.”

Janet is generous with her time and talent, rarely turning down a request to show up at a parochial or diocesan event.

In the pages following this brief interview I have featured some of her favourite diocesan photos. I hope you enjoy them.

When did you start taking pictures?

As a little girl of four or five, I was intrigued by my mother’s photography. She took lots of photos and even developed them in the bathroom. So I would often see photos hanging from a clothes line there.

In the late 1980 early 1990’s I had a wedding video business. With a partner I recorded and edited weddings. I really loved this work. People are in a good mood at weddings, I was introduced to customs from so many different ethnic groups and I learned a lot about composition and working quickly.

I continued to work with video and eventually did some documentaries, several of which played in film festivals. One, The Dust of His Feet, is about Bangladeshi musicians. I directed, filmed and edited all by myself and it played in the Documenting Bangladesh Festival in Dhaka. I edited and did most of the camera work for another, A New Life on the Land: Jewish Farmer in Canada. It played at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and at the Bucharest Jewish Film Festival. The most recent film, The Wonder and Amazement – Rita Briansky on Her Life in Art, which I co-directed, filmed and edited is about a lively 91 year old painter and teacher. It also played at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival.

How did you become the official diocesan photographer?

I became the official photographer for the Diocese in the summer of 2016. By then I’d been taking photos at the Church of St. John’ the Evangelist for over five years, and some of these photos made their way into the church’s calendar. Bishop Mary saw the calendar, liked the photos and asked me to be the diocesan photographer. I had also photographed her consecration in 2015.

What are the biggest challenges in photographing church events?

​Large events are not necessarily more difficult than smaller ones, but church services are much more difficult than receptions or conferences. They are definitely challenging. People want you to be discrete. In fact, a lot of the time, they probably don’t want to see you at all. But if you are way off on the side, you won’t get decent photos.

Really, a lot of the time the difference between a good photo and a terrible one is location. So I have to compromise where I go. I won’t go way off in the corner but I can’t roam around the altar area either.

​However a good location can end up being a bad one once an event starts. Suddenly a big group of people will come up and block everything. If I were 6’5’’ tall I could have a bird’s eye and it wouldn’t be a problem but I’m not.

​Also churches are often very dark, flash is usually not appreciated and nothing can be repeated for the photographer, so that is also a problem. Luckily, I have a camera that is very good in low light but even it has a problem dealing with some situations

​A problem that does not exist is getting tired. Sometimes people ask me if I’m tired at a shoot, but I never am because taking photos is so involving.

Editor’s note: Following the interview of our Diocesan Photographer, Janet Best, I invited her to share some of her favourite shots from around the diocese. She submitted over a dozen, from which I chose these eight.

“It’s not easy to choose a few favourites out of tens of thousands of photos. Is it the content or the aesthetics that should mainly determine the choice?

One tends to choose pictures that are different from the others, but they may not be better.”

“I’ve included rather a lot of photos from the Church of St. John the Evangelist, since it is the church I attend and see the most. Of course, the choices are in no way a judgement on the value of the people or churches involved.”

I chose this shot of the 2019 Pride Mass because I like the colours, the symmetry and the exhuberance of the performers.

There are many people whose volunteer work keep the church going, like the woman here lighting the candles. The preparations and ending work seem like a ritual in themselves.

At St John the Evangelist, the gold at the altar contrasted with dark nave is quite dramatic.

I chose this photo for its beautiful setting coupled with the off-centre, more unusual composition.

I like the conductor’s expressive gesture with the church as a backdrop. I was lucky enough to be able to move around before the service. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to get this shot.

The simple, graphic quality of this photo emphasizes the laying on of hands, which is an important part of the confirmation ceremony.

To me this shot, taken at St John the Evangelist, looks a bit like a 19th century painting. I like the way the rays of light shine in and illuminate the man on the right.

In this picture, taken at Christ Church Cathedral, I like the contrast between the thurifer’s (Tyson Rosberg) far-away look and the rest of the people in the procession behind him.