18 - Sunday, March 10, 1991- North Shore News HIGH PROFILES Vantage point Like Bourke-White before her Dianne Kennedy Birch goes to great lengths for the right shot NEWS photo Mike Wakelield DIANNE KENNEDY Birch: ‘‘Why do 1! like my job? it’s like wondering why people enjoy jumping out of airplanes.” AR temperatures. To thank the North Shore news carriers for a job well done, we've sent all 1,000 of them a Carrier Appreciation Coupon for McDonalds, giving them a free meal. THANK YOU! THE VOICE OF NOUTTH AND WEST VANCOUVER ‘north shore coms an SUNDAY +¢ WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY CARRIER ROUTE INFORMATION: 986-1337 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Van. NAME: Dianne Kennedy Birch RESIDENCE: North Vancouver EDUCATION: Certificate in Photography, Vancouver Com- munity Coliege OCCUPATION: Architectural and industrial photographer FAMILY: Married; two sons HOBBIES: Hiking UNLIKE MOST photographers, Dianne Kennedy Birch doesn’t have to worry about deadlines. What she does have io worry about is falling off rooftops, toppling over ladders and being crushed by lead-weight camera equipment. Kennedy Birch is an architec- tural and industrial photographer and the head of Sonata Graphics in North Vancouver. Her work — she produces mostly colorful shots of large commercial developments and does promotional work for the private and public sector — has taken her to some unusual desti- nations, notably, the top of Canada Place’s towering white sails. In order to get a bird’s eye view of a provincial government trade show, Kennedy Birch ascended the sails loaded down with heavy equipment, like a modern-day Spiderwoman. By Evelyn Jacob News Reporter She's got plenty more heart- stopping stories and all of them go way beyond the call of duty. There was the time she had to crawl through a stripper’s room in a sleazy Vancouver motel to get a rooftop shot. Or the time when she squeezed herself and 60 pounds of equipment through a tiny hatch in a men’s washroom to capture the perfect image. One story she loves recalling is how she scaled the wall of a clocktower juggling three cameras and a cast on her left arm to get an overview shot of a new Ladner shopping mall. *‘People look at me and just roll their eyes,’’ says the dark- haired, lanky Kennedy Birch. “Everybody thinks [’m nuts to be doing this.”’ But the challenge of capturing a particular moment — something most people wouldn't bother pur- suing — is what keeps her in the business. Born near Nanaimo in Depar- ture Bay, Kennedy Birch’s mother, well-known Vancouver Island sculptor Dorothea Ken- nedy, introduced her to the world of art. She remembers watching her mother mix up paint in the basement. “She was always doing some- thing down there. It always smell- ed of paint and turpentine.”* Kennedy Birch says that she was attracted to photography be-ause waiting for a print to dry was much faster and far tess frustrating than waiting for a canvas to dry. “IT guess I've always been an impatient, impulsive person."” After studying photography at Vancouver Community College, Capilano College and Focal Point, she launched into a series of char- acter studies. She travelled north to the Cariboo and found the locals to be particularly good sub- jects, “I get terribly excited and fearless when ['m working,”’ she says, and then confesses that her zealousness got her kicked off In- dian reserves more than once. In 1984, she opened Sonata Graphics. She'd spent the previous three years working in studio por- traiture, which quickly became monotonous; industrial photography offered just the sort of challenge she was looking for. Making inanimate objects — characterless, concrete buildings — look appealing is something Kennedy Birch now thrives on. -And she’s particularly skilled at making rigid, uptight businessmen look good for corporate annual reports. “*I like to study light, to create a mood. Sometimes you have to See Capturing page 19 NEWS CARRIERS WINNERS! We're proud of our carriers for the great job they do in ali kinds of weather. This past January was particularly difficult with snow and freezing