My first magazine cover came about in a rather strange way. I had recently gotten back from Iceland last summer when I got an email from Ragga, an Icelandic journalist and a WAP alumna. She had done an interview with an Icelandic woman, Svanhildur, who lives in Victoria (yes, we all knew each other before), for Vikan magazine.
Svanhildur had been in Iceland about the same time as I had, which made the interview easy. But when it was time for the cover shoot, Svanhildur had come taken ill, and then she was back in Victoria a day or two later. That’s where I come in.
Ragga asked me to photograph Svanhildur, with the possibility of the photo being on the cover. How could I refuse? I didn’t even try – not that I wanted to.
I called Svanhildur and we met at the public library in downtown Victoria. There I took a few photos of her, after which we moved to her favourite place in Victoria, where she goes when she feels homesick for Iceland; the beach near the Chinese cemetery. There she can see the ocean, the mountains across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and just relax. There’s even a wooden folding chair for anyone to use. And sure enough, that’s were I caught the photo that evenutally landed on the cove
A few weeks after the shoot, the interview was published, and I had my first magazine cover.
