Laila's Gallery Wrap Art - A Blue Tuesday

About AJ Messier

After completing my degree at the University of Western Ontario with majors in History and Film, I moved to Vancouver, British Columbia to work in the film industry.  I wandered the streets of Vancouver from Hastings to Berrard and the beaches of Kitts to English Bay with my father's Yashica 35mm, showing friends & family back home my new digs through that camera.  Since Vancouver, my camera has never been far from reach, whether it be the year spent at Surfers' Paradise, Queensland or my travels throughout Europe.

I've taken many courses in the visual arts, however, my understanding of photography has been an evolving, hands-on, self-taught learning process. A major breakthrough occurred during my year in Australia when I discovered the work of Peter Lik, an incredible landscape photographer out of Cairns, Queensland. His use of the Australian contours and rich vibrant colours were magical and unprecedented--at least for me.

At that moment I vowed to merge my love of photography with a desire to find a successful career path. I began small, selling photographs as souvenirs at a local Internet cafe at Surfers Paradise.  During my last four months in Australia I sold over 2000 photographs and gained confidence that I could do this for a living. I vowed to discover the beauty in every place I visited, and to capture it by fine tuning and mastering the craft of photography.

In recent years I've been fortunate to work closely with my good friend and mentor, the accomplished National Hockey League (NHL) sports photographer, Dave Sandford. Our professional relationship came about in 2005 during the Ontario Hockey League's Memorial Cup, continued during the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals and the 2007 NHL All-Star Game, and continued through this year's 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.  Witnessing Dave's irrepressible work ethic, meticulous eye for detail, and high standards taught me what it takes to be a professional photographer, including how to conduct myself in high stress moments.  Through his mentoring I also had the honor to work with and get to know some of the top NHL photographers from Getty and NHL Images. I have been truly blessed to be behind the scenes at these events, and it is not without great organization, skills, and sacrifice that the world wakes up each morning to see fantastic photographs gracing the pages of newspapers, magazines, and the World-wide Web.

Other artistic influences include Vincent Laforet, a photographer for The New York Times, and Jean-Luc Bresson, an early pioneer in bridging art photography and journalism, and one of the founders of the Magnum Press.

Recently my body of work has expanded to include doing work for Save the Children Canada and their projects in Latin America, more precisely in Peru.

My love of sports images will always be eclipsed by my fascination for Mother Nature's infinite majesty, whether it's the sun rising from the Pacific on Fraser Island, Australia or the moon receding below the Telemark Range in Norway. I will forever seek to capture her visual brilliance with my camera, and hope that at least a few of my efforts trigger the majestic in you.