Stephen Waddell was born 1968 in Vancouver, British Columbia. His parents were involved with the arts and he took courses at Simon Fraser University with Jeff Wall. He began making photographs as a means of “sketching” in preparation for paintings, but by the late 1990s he came to photography seriously in its own right. His work has been widely exhibited and is part of international collections. In 1998 he moved to Berlin and proceeded to work there for the next ten years before returning to Vancouver, where he resides today.
Hunt and Gather
“Stephen Waddell is one of those patient spirits whose art is devoted to depiction, to the contemplation of sight itself. This is neither the oldest nor the original form of art, nor possibly the most significant these days, but it may be the most stable, consistent, and richest in possibility. Its models are Velázquez, Cézanne, Manet, Atget, and Walker Evans. Waddell’s photographs are usually taken surreptitiously in public places… He concentrates on notation and suggestion, a delicate and circumspect observation of people in their labor, leisure, and their solitude. He almost never alters anything with a computer.
