May 8, 1945, Toronto, Circa 2000

Bruce Pittman  

Bruce Pittman is an award-winning filmmaker who, throughout his long career, has taken photographs. He is noted for his visual style. Three times his films have won national awards for cinematography at both the Canadian Society of Cinematographers and the Gemini Awards. He has applied this visual style to his photography that is as eclectic as are his movies. His latest film, THE LAST MOVIE, won Best Foreign Film at the Long Island International Film Festival and was an official selection at the Moscow International Film  Festival. Bruce Pittman's SHATTERED CITY, the epic story of the Halifax explosion, won two Directors Guild of Canada Awards and five Geminis. His film CAPTIVE HEART won the Grand Award and the Gold World Medal at the New York International Programming Awards and KURT VONNEGUT'S HARRISON BERGERON was named one of the Ten Best Films at the prestigious Cologne Conference in Germany. WHERE THE SPRIT LIVES received numerous international festival awards and a Gemini for Best TV Movie. For this film, Bruce Pittman was named Best Director at the Chicago International Film Festival. His film THE PAINTED DOOR received an Academy Award nomination as Best Live Action Short.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Creating a moment for motion pictures utilizes twenty-four separate photographs per second, usually several different setups which are then edited into a continuous sequence enhanced by sound and music. The equivalent moment in photography is a single frame frozen in time. Films are essentially a manipulation of the viewer by the director to achieve the desired emotion of the story. Good photography, through a single image, invites the viewer to create their own story. For me, this relationship between the photographer and the viewer has always held a fascination. Most of my photographs are photo journalistic. Almost all were taken with available light and attempt to capture the essence of the moment and spark the imagination of the beholder.

- Bruce Pittman