Patrick Callbeck by Matt Dixon, August, '10

Artist Patrick Callbeck is currently holding an exciting new photography show at Baba's Lounge in downtown Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Do yourself a huge favour and get over there while you still can! In the meantime you can read a brief Q&A I did with the artist himself below!

1. Another year, another art show. We previously hooked up over your art show at Ampersand around this time last year. Can you tell us a little about the new one being held at Baba's Lounge in downtown Charlottetown?
Of course! If you remember my show last year you will remember that it was entirely portraits of my friends. They were all taken with digital cameras, lit with strobes, and photoshopped. This show is quite a bit different. I recently inherited nearly 50 rolls of expired film from my boss, so I decided to use them to create some interesting portraits of the city. Just like my show last year I wanted to get outside of the typical 8x10 or 4x6 frame, so each 'photo' is actually made up of an entire roll of film printed out on standard 4x6 sheets and then pieced together like a puzzle. I went around to a lot of my favourite spots in and around Charlottetown in an effort to photograph some places that people either don't know about or that are shrouded by the overwhelming amount of Anne, lobster, and ridiculous bullshit that we tend to associate with summers in Charlottetown.

2. It's a fantastic idea. What inspired you to do portraits of our fair city?
I like taking pictures of what I know and what is close to me, so for this show I decided that I would take pictures of a few places around Charlottetown that mean a lot to me. They are places that remind me why I love this Island so much. While they may not be the epitome of beauty, they are close to home, they are special, and I think they are more a part of PEI than any fictional character or shellfish.

3. How did it all come together with Baba's?
Since November or so they have been getting one artist to put up a show for a month. I heard about it and instantly contacted Becka Viau to book a spot. I contacted her in December looking to have a show in February, but it turned out that it had already been booked until July, so I took August. I'm very appreciative of Baba's and Becka Viau for putting this little gallery together. There really isn't anywhere in town for new artists to easily display their art!

4. Very cool, so the show will run all August at Baba's?
Yep, I think the show will actually be up until Sept 8th.

5. Can you give us a hint as to what your next project may be?
I honestly don't know what will happen next. I would love to do some sort of photo-journalistic project sometime in the next year. I am planning on pursuing photojournalism as a career, so you'll probably see a movement away from weird art pieces to more story/character driven photography. Who knows?!

6. Thanks Patrick, any final words?
Thanks again Matt, and thanks to everyone who came to check out my show!

For Now Check Out Patrick's Other Work
junnnktank.com/interviews/pcallbeck.htm

PATRICK CALLBECK IS A BAD MOTHER FUCKER
TAKE A LOOK AT OTHER JUNNNKTANK INTERVIEWS HERE