[The New Regular] Meaghan Laaper | Shifting Focus: Chris Griffiths

Lighting test, in studio. Bang-On Photography

“We spent a lot of years to get to this point. I’m looking forward to getting through [social isolation] with a new focus.”

—Chris Griffiths, Commercial Photographer at Bang-On Photography

Campaign shoot with MacMillan Forestry NS

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted how we function as a society, at least for the time being. For many artists, quarantine and social distancing have resulted in huge financial losses. Chris Griffiths of commercial photography studio Bang-On Photography is temporarily dealing with a complete loss of income and is understandably shaken. “It makes you realize how much you depend on everything around you.”

Image library/campaign shoot for NBCCD

Chris has been in the industry for twelve years and has overcome his fair share of obstacles. “We’ve gone through so many different hard-time scenarios. It’s just the nature of being a creative in a world where you’re trying to survive on it financially. You’re going to run into a lot of roadblocks.” Though Chris finds motivation in tackling these setbacks, facing an event that is out of his control has been a new challenge. Unable to actively change the situation, Chris, like many artists, looked for other productive ways to pass the time. That has meant taking a closer look at his work and business.

Campaign shoot for Opportunities NB, at InteliSys Aviation

“I just gotta do what I gotta do to get through it for now… I’ve been through every scenario you could ever imagine. This is just another scenario.”

Chris has been re-evaluating his expenses and looking for areas where he can be more self-sufficient. This does not mean his business will be changing; however, he hopes this use of his time will allow him to return to work with a clear plan for the future. “I’ve gone and taken a broader look at some of my work over the years and some of our work as a company and the clients we deal with and started to get a new focus of where I want to be when we get out of this.”

Feature story with St. Mary’s First Nation for Canadian Geographic, featuring Stevie Polchies

Aside from his business, Chris has also been reviewing his old projects. As he explains, the excitement felt at the start of a project tends to dwindle near the end as you grow tired of seeing the same images over and over again during the editing process. In this state of mind, it can be easy to overlook the accomplishment of a finished series. With time on his hands, Chris can truly sit with his work. “This has been really cool for me because I am looking at all that old stuff and remembering that was a super cool project or we really nailed it on this one.” 

Campaign shoot for Mrs. Dunsters/Ginger Design. Model Ashley Dearing.

Revisiting has rekindled Chris’ appreciation of the artform. He has always derived creativity from activities outside of photography, such as skateboarding and mountain biking; yet, looking over his old photos Chris explains “I look at that stuff and it kind of ignites things for me again and I get excited about it… Just appreciating what we’ve done to this point.”

Campaign shoot for Opportunities NB, at JMN Canada

If COVID-19 is humanity’s time out, people are finding all kinds of ways to put that quiet time to good use. Though the negative impacts of COVID-19 cannot be overlooked, at least as a society we can use this time to take a breath, re-evaluate, and come back to the world refreshed in our convictions. As Chris explains, “this time has allowed me to look at all of the work that we have done over the years and appreciate it a lot more.” This new regular will not be forever, but perhaps when this is over we can all return a little more true to ourselves.

Creative shoot with Emily Whalen

—Meaghan Laaper

A recent graduate, Meaghan completed her Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton. Having also completed UNB’s Certificate in Publishing, Meaghan began her writing journey as a publicity and editorial intern for Goose Lane Editions before taking a work placement at CreatedHere/NBCCD.