By Angela Zhao
Meg Chamberlin, a devoted member of the science department, is well known in Collingwood for her dedication to all four strands - her expertise in yoga, service, chemistry, and photography would make her the ideal Collingwood student. Travelling is a large part of Ms. Chamberlin’s life, and her hobbies include photography, backcountry skiing at Seymour, yoga, playing guitar, and Nika boxing.
Ms. Chamberlin discovered her passion for photography through her travels. As a quadrilingual educator (she is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, and French!), she has taught across five continents, and traveled, worked, and volunteered in fifty countries. It was on one such experience in South America when she was 21 that Ms. Chamberlin found her love for photography. Having never taken pictures before, Ms. Chamberlin bought a film camera to try and capture what she would see and learn. She experimented with ways to use light, and found that she enjoyed using portraiture and landscape to capture the beauty of foreign cultures.
To Ms. Chamberlin, photography is a way to look at everyday things from a different perspective. We often focus on the big picture as we rush through our busy days, but with a camera, it’s possible to focus on the finer things in life. As such, Ms. Chamberlin has no specific type of subject matter that she favours, but rather appreciates capturing candid moments. She also likes to play with lighting - natural light in particular, to enhance the candid shots.
When asked for her biggest influence, Ms. Chamberlin cites her feeling of responsibility to represent others in the way they want to be represented. Respect and capturing the spirit of the subject inspires her photography, as well as documenting the service trips she has been on. Ms. Chamberlin has participated in many service opportunities in her travels, and Nicaguara and Cambodia were two experiences that she especially enjoyed.
At the moment, Ms. Chamberlin is working on a 52-week project that encourages global citizenship. Each week, she posts a new photo from a different country on Instagram, along with the lessons she learned from the people there. To Ms. Chamberlin, the trips are not about what we bring to the people there, but rather what they can bring to us, as “we always have something to learn.”
When asked about her advice to photography beginners, Ms. Chamberlin’s suggestion is: “Take thousands and thousands of photos. Photograph the same thing from different perspectives, and use the light time of day and natural light.”
To see more of Ms. Chamberlin’s amazing photos, you can visit her website: http://www.yogawithbhakti.com.
Meg Chamberlin, a devoted member of the science department, is well known in Collingwood for her dedication to all four strands - her expertise in yoga, service, chemistry, and photography would make her the ideal Collingwood student. Travelling is a large part of Ms. Chamberlin’s life, and her hobbies include photography, backcountry skiing at Seymour, yoga, playing guitar, and Nika boxing.
Ms. Chamberlin discovered her passion for photography through her travels. As a quadrilingual educator (she is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, and French!), she has taught across five continents, and traveled, worked, and volunteered in fifty countries. It was on one such experience in South America when she was 21 that Ms. Chamberlin found her love for photography. Having never taken pictures before, Ms. Chamberlin bought a film camera to try and capture what she would see and learn. She experimented with ways to use light, and found that she enjoyed using portraiture and landscape to capture the beauty of foreign cultures.
To Ms. Chamberlin, photography is a way to look at everyday things from a different perspective. We often focus on the big picture as we rush through our busy days, but with a camera, it’s possible to focus on the finer things in life. As such, Ms. Chamberlin has no specific type of subject matter that she favours, but rather appreciates capturing candid moments. She also likes to play with lighting - natural light in particular, to enhance the candid shots.
When asked for her biggest influence, Ms. Chamberlin cites her feeling of responsibility to represent others in the way they want to be represented. Respect and capturing the spirit of the subject inspires her photography, as well as documenting the service trips she has been on. Ms. Chamberlin has participated in many service opportunities in her travels, and Nicaguara and Cambodia were two experiences that she especially enjoyed.
At the moment, Ms. Chamberlin is working on a 52-week project that encourages global citizenship. Each week, she posts a new photo from a different country on Instagram, along with the lessons she learned from the people there. To Ms. Chamberlin, the trips are not about what we bring to the people there, but rather what they can bring to us, as “we always have something to learn.”
When asked about her advice to photography beginners, Ms. Chamberlin’s suggestion is: “Take thousands and thousands of photos. Photograph the same thing from different perspectives, and use the light time of day and natural light.”
To see more of Ms. Chamberlin’s amazing photos, you can visit her website: http://www.yogawithbhakti.com.