To me, photography is not about equipment or technical skill, nor is it purely about aesthetics or composition. I love human beings, and as an artist and explorer, my goal is to connect with people and capture their strengths, their vulnerabilities, their relationships with one another, and their interactions with me. My images are born of real moments – they are expressions of both emotional and physical human experience. Whether I am photographing a mother and child, or a couple making love – this is the common thread.

For me, it is about trust and relationships.

Because of this, I feel it is important to remain aware of what it is to be the subject… to be naked, either literally or emotionally, to relax, to be directed and recorded by someone else. In keeping with this, I enjoy posing for other photographers, and last weekend I did a shoot with R. Ward Shipman. Here is one of the many beautiful images we made together…

Nude portrait

This image captures trust and relationship as I have described. As subjects, we felt safe and comfortable and were able to express this as Ward both directed us and also worked with our natural body language. His sensitivity as an image maker is key here, and for anyone who photographs people, this is just as important as knowing which buttons to push on the camera. Often though, this is somewhat overlooked by people who are trying to achieve this type of image.

For those of you who are aspiring photographic artists, have you ever wondered how to create a comfortable shooting situation where you can capture this sort of intimacy and emotional presence? In just a few weeks, I will be hosting a seminar to address this topic. It will include a lecture, slide show, and Q&A period…

Warmth and Beauty in Bareness: demystifying the nude

Thursday April 16th, 7 – 8:30pm
at The Melanie Gillis Studio Gallery
126 James Street North, 3rd floor
$20 admission
Signing up early via phone or email is recommended as seating is limited.

905 297 7050
info AT melaniegillis DOT com

Posted by: Melanie Gillis, The Melanie Gillis Studio

When I worked as a consultant in the hospital, I would always encourage my patients to advocate for themselves.

Often patients would apologize for “bothering” me with a new symptom or complaint but I would rather hear a complaint and decide whether or not it was serious than not have the patient tell me about the problem until it was advanced.

I’d like to introduce to someone who has taken the art of advocating for himself, and listening to his body, to a whole level: Alan Geller.

Alan Geller developed neurological problems that were progressing fairly rapidly a few years ago. He was given a diagnosis of MS (multiple sclerosis) and told that he would be in a wheelchair within a year. He took charge of his health and was able to reverse pretty much all of his problems. He tells his story in Scary Diagnosis.

Alan has written an article for this month’s Silver and Gold magazine about how you can take charge of your own health. Here is a link to the magazine. The article starts on page 34.

If you’ve ever had a mammogram, you know that it is an extremely uncomfortable x-ray test to look for breast cancer.

Imagine squeezing your breasts really tightly between 2 plates. Ouch!!! If men had to squeeze their testicles between 2 plates to diagnose testicular cancer, you can bet that a better and more comfortable test would become available pretty darn quick.

A better test is available but many people don’t have access to it. You can use MRI to diagnose breast cancer if you have a special attachment called a breast coil.

This is a breast coil. You lie on it face down with your face resting on the dark grey head rest in the upper left hand end of the picture. Your breasts hang down in the 2 wells located in the highest part of the table.

What’s great about the MRI compared with the mammogram is that the images include the chest wall and the armpits. When staging a breast cancer, we need to know whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes in the chest wall or the armpits (axillae) so the MRI is really helpful.

This image shows a model patient draped across the breast coil. A doctor is demonstrating how you can do a breast biopsy through the side of the breast coil. You confirm the location of the biopsy needle with the MRI so you know that the needle is in the right place.

I’ve been talking to a lot of women, even women who have had close friends or family with breast cancer, and so far no one has heard of the breast coil.

Kelly Arnott and I are trying to change that. We think that women should know about the breast coil and have access to the test.

Kelly organizes various races in the Burlington area including the Santa Jingle Run, and she is putting the proceeds of the Chilly Half Marathon in March 2009 towards purchasing a breast coil for the MRI at the Hamilton General Hospital.

I will be holding fund-raisers throughout the year here at Advanced Rejuvenation and raising awareness through articles and interviews.

If you live in South-Central Ontario (Brant County, Grey County, Haldimand County, Halton Region, Hamilton (City of), Niagara Region, Norfolk County, Waterloo Region, Wellington County), chances are you will be referred to Hamilton if you have a serious illness.

If you would like to make better breast imaging available in South-Central Ontario, join our mailing list by clicking here to learn about how you can participate in the Chilly Half-Marathon or in fund-raisers here at Advanced Rejuvenation Medical Spa.

Dr. Rose Jeans
Advanced Rejuvenation Medical Spa

Last week, the Oprah show shared the stories of 7 women who were on TLC’s 10 Years Younger show, and 2 women who transformed themselves on their own.

You can see the before and after pictures here.

A very strong recurring theme with these women is that they put themselves on the backburner in their 30’s and 40’s in order to keep up with children, jobs and life. Sound familiar?

In terms of the transformations themselves, it is interesting how little it takes in some cases. A new hairstyle and makeup makes a world of difference but the key, I think, is to let someone else show you the potential they see in you.

How often do we apply the same old makeup in the same old way?

When you watch TLC’s What Not to Wear, how many times does the person being transformed resist having her hair changed? And then look like a million bucks when Nick is done?

Sometimes we need an outsider to give us permission to pay more attention to ourself. Sometimes the problem is that we’ve let our expectations of ourselves become so low, we need someone to show us how good we can actually look.

As Oprah says, we need to DREAM BIG!