A couple of years ago, my partner got us a photoshoot with a tintype photographer in Vancouver as an anniversary gift. He had a cool old studio in this ancient building in East Van, where he had a whole bunch of analog equipment to shoot and develop tintype photos. It was an insane process, and he walked us through all of the steps and explained why everything is the way it is within tintype. I was enthralled by the whole experience, and I knew I wanted to shoot something with him sometime. 

Fast forward a year and a bit, and we were scouring all corners of Canada looking for the right folks for another set of these films for TurboTax. We needed someone in Vancouver. Ian immediately came to mind, and the rest is history. 

I spend a ton of time on calls with each of our subjects before we tell their stories, figuring out exactly what part of their story we should tell, and Ian told me in one of those calls something that has been resonating in my mind ever since. 

“Everyone has interests, but fear of failure and an internal monologue tells them that if they’re not good at something, they shouldn’t do it, and that keeps people from trying things. I’m a giant champion of encouraging people to try it, give it a go. True success is the result of being able to fail repeatedly without quitting. The art of failing is the art of success.

I don’t really see things as failures. Its just a learning experience. The only failure is not trying again and not learning from whatever happened. ”

If I took anything away from my time with Ian, it’s that I need to just do it. Failure is 100% an option, in fact, it’s the only option. I’ve been known to suffer from analysis paralysis at times, and I hope I can keep Ian’s perspective in mind next time that comes along. 

Thank you to the epic team that put their hearts and souls into this work:

Client: TurboTax
Subject: Ian Azariah
Director and Stills: Christian Tisdale
Director & DP: Liam Mullany
Producer: Shannon Cherry
PM: Nina Laflamme
CD: Jed Churcher
Casting: Library Collective
Behind The Scenes: Nina Laflamme
1st AC: Nick Taillefer
Sound: Dave Pullmer
Editor: David Peacock
Sound Design: Keith White
Colour: Bacon X // Sam Gilling
Score: Andrew Judah
Tintype Subject: Gennymae Rowed