It all began with looking at cameras in the Consumers Distributing catalog, continued with a roommate at college who shared his interest, got waylaid for a few months when he decided to fly Sonya out to see him instead of buying a camera and got back on track when wedding money facilitated the purchase of his first SLR.

He started learning photography in earnest at a camera workshop offered by a local camera store in Saskatoon, “Motion, Picture and Sound” when he was starting to burn out of youth ministry. Then he continued with a correspondence course from “The New York Institute of Photography” while a paramedic in Northern Saskatchewan. Then it was decision time: continue in the medical field and do photography as a hobby, or pursue photography full-time. With the encouragement of his wife, he went all in and they moved to Winnipeg.

After a year of working at Don’s Photo, Rodney ventured out into self-employment with the help of Sonya. They named their business, “Riverform Arts” and they started doing wedding and family portraits. At one point, someone called them to ask if they could do a nude silhouette to capture the special time of pregnancy. Rodney was very hesitant, but Sonya encouraged him to go for it. The woman was very relieved to find a Christian husband-and-wife team to do her photos and thus began a new page in Rodney’s career.

After their second child, it was becoming increasingly difficult for them to run their home business and so Rodney began work with Joel Ross Photography doing weddings/engagements and developing a new line of maternity/newborn photography. They were a smashing success, but eventually the two parted ways.

Sonya had just read the book, “Captivating” and wondered if photography could be used to help answer the pressing question many women have, “Am I beautiful?” She had also realized Rodney had a gift for bringing out the best in people and making them feel at ease, and he did very well in his “Figure Study” accreditation for PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada). So she came up with the idea of a photography studio focused on women. They called it “Eve Studios – uncovering the beauty within”. Women came to them after searching on the internet or in response to several newspaper articles that were written about their studio. Some had photos done for their partners, some did it just for themselves. Rodney did a mix of photos, depending on what each client wanted. Some did art nudes, some more boudoir-style, some did more like a fashion shoot, and always Rodney created really strong headshots with gorgeous light to bring out the best in them. Sadly, an 18-year-old boy posing as us on Facebook started asking girls to do photos, so we went public to warn girls about potential trafficking schemes especially since the CFL playoffs were close at hand, and with the negative publicity we eventually closed our doors.

During that time, Rodney also began to do art projects. His first came after hearing the story of his friend who taught art at a Christian school taking his senior students to an art gallery and walking into a nude gallery unexpectedly. His friend decided to carry on and just talk about it later. Three girls were brave enough to express their thoughts. One said, “I didn’t see anything that inspired me about being human”. Another asked, “Why aren’t there any Christians doing this kind of thing? “ and another asked, “Why didn’t I see anyone that looked like me?” The gallery and book, “Just As I Am” was born. Rodney put out a call to anyone over 18 who wanted to be part of it. Each person wrote a sentence or two about who they were and then was asked to choose a pose that represented them as modest or out there as they desired. The hope was to reconnect humanity with the body and depict people without all the ways that we judge each other on (clothing often being a way we create images or show wealth). The work was displayed at the Cre8ery and the book was published. It was amazing to hear people’s comments. Some said the gallery was like a sacred space.

After that, Rodney did an underwater project called, “H2Oohhh” and did a show at Pixels 2.1 gallery, another book, and raised money for two charities, “WaterCan” and “Samaritan’s Purse”, both of which helped provide clean drinking water to people and communities in need. We also raised awareness for the Lake Winnipeg Foundation. Then came “Airborne” which focused on flour dust and mainly dancers. Such a beautiful project! Finally, we did a small project called, “Skin & Soul” which featured people, their tattoos, and the story behind their tattoos.

When Rodney started instructing at Red River College Polytechnic, he found he had a lot less time for his own photography and projects although he started a YouTube channel at the same time as starting to teach. He found he really enjoyed teaching and his students enjoyed learning from him. At a certain point, he had to reawaken his love for photography so he started travelling to the States and capturing the beauty down there. His favorite spot quickly became Moab, Utah, and all the national parks nearby, which led to leading trips there. And then to California, Jamaica, and the Dominican, as he had friends there. Now he hopes to add in some speaking and to continue honing his photography and teaching.