She’s So Brave – Jocelyn Reid
We sit with Jocelyn, tell her we are going for a Martin Scorsese interview vibe. Music plays in the background.
Just state your name and who you are.
My name is Jocelyn Reid. I work for an Art School, which kind of makes me an academic? But not really. I’m a technician. So I’m the technical liaison for the ceramics department.
If you’re comfortable with sharing your age…
Oh yeah, I’m twenty-seven.
Tell us a little about what makes you, you.
That’s a big one. The first thing that comes to mind is my family. I’m really close with (them). I have two other sisters. This tattoo is the Three Sisters mountains (from Canmore), and all three of us have it. We grew up between there and here.
Both of my sisters were olympic athletes. She thinks. Oh no, only one of them was. Skeleton.
Sarah Reid?
Yeah!
I’ve photographed her before!
Really?
Yeah! I’m a huge Olympics fan. I love the Olympics and everything about them. And she was at the Duke of Edinburgh awards last year, so I got to photograph her and a bunch of other Olympians.
That’s amazing!
Laughter.
So she did skeleton, and my other sister was a professional snowboarder for a long time. She was one the national team but she blew her knee, so she didn’t go.
So were you into sports?
No never… I was a very fearful child.
The black sheep of the family?
Yeah totally. They used to joke that I was a milkman baby.
So what kind of led you to ceramics? Because it’s obviously a big part of your life today.
Yeah, a big part of my life. I just started doing it as a fill in for sports, ‘because our parents were big on the extracurriculars. So I started when I was about twelve in after school things. It was one of those things where my parents were like, “so what do you like?”
So they were throwing out ideas?
Yeah. But only art. That was the only one I was alright with.
So, I started doing it at the community centre, and then after high school I went traveling for a year. I applied for ACAD (Alberta College of Art and Design) while I was gone, and just ended up in the ceramics department.
It’s a funny material. I really like it because it has a very rich history but there’s also an amazing contemporary ceramics community. There’s something very beautiful about the way the material transforms.
The way I make my work is very controlled and very minimal, and there’s no real makers mark on it. I like coming from (a) material that’s associated with brown pots that are gross and old, and being able to subvert that. And I like that the material has a really wide capacity. If you wanna make brown pots, you can make brown pots.
We moved around the room, repositioning her for her photographs.
What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?
It’s really hard and I’ve been thinking about it too. I feel like I’ve been so lucky. I have a fantastic family, amazing friends, and so much support in my life. The only thing I can think of was choosing my career. Which I figure you can probably identify with being a photographer.
It’s really hard sometimes, and it would be super easy to just give up and walk away.
I have a sister who’s a painter. I always look and her and think, she’s so brave. It’s a brave choice to pursue creative arts.
You just get so much rejection; there’s a lot more negative encouragement than positive encouragement. I would say that’s the bravest thing. And it’s continuous too, (so) I don’t feel like that was the one bravest thing. I feel like it’s a journey. It (a bunch of) small brave things instead of one (big one).
And you’ve been all over the world with it?
Yeah, I’ve been really lucky with government grants that help me travel, ‘because we do have really good arts funding in Alberta. I’ve been to Montana and Denmark, and done a couple residences here.
I’m actually doing the artist in residence program and workshop, so I have a four month artist residency. I’ve been lucky to travel as much as I have. And ceramics is sort of a funny community too, it’s very small and incestuous at the end of the day.
Laughter.
(I mean), you can go to Denmark and meet people who are friends, or who (you’ve) done a residency with before.
That’s insane!
And that’s the thing, it’s all (in the) applications. You can apply for ten and maybe get one. You have to be stubborn.
Never say never.
View the Online Gallery
An online gallery of all her images is available for the next 30 days. From the online gallery you are able to favourite images, order prints and share the gallery with your family and friends. The gallery can be accessed via the link below and you can contact Jocelyn directly for her secure password.
https://jmphotographyportraits.shootproof.com/ReidPORT
We are so fortunate to have had the opportunity to photograph Jocelyn for She’s So Brave and we thank her for sharing her story of bravery with us!
Want to share in the experience? Contact us today to book your session or to set up your free wedding consultation with Jeremy!
Images by Calgary Portrait Photographer JM Photography © 2017
Some of my Favourite Photos from Jocelyn’s Session
Jocelyn’s Portrait Session Details
Date | 10.19.17
Location | Workshop Studios
Photos by Cally Arsenault
Editing by Kelly Anne Steel
Blog written by Jenna Anderson
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