This website presents selections from Teneda Webber’s black and white and colour photographic work. Teneda received a degree in Photography from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. She worked as a photographer in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C. Her work was exhibited and published in Canada and the United States.

In an interview in Boulevard Magazine, Teneda talked about her approach: “… the person must have something special in their soul, so the photograph can reveal parts of their character that may be unknown even to them”.

Teneda saw the photographic potential in the most often unlikely combinations of subjects and locations. In 1996 she wrote: “I have attempted to capture my subjects in a natural and unassuming manner, placing them in carefully chosen locations – locations that reflect the individual…”.

The work on the website has been divided into portfolios, representing the range of Teneda’s photographic work.

The portfolio titles, “Private Worlds” (1, 2, and 3), were borrowed from Teneda’s 1996 exhibit, "Private Worlds",  at X-Changes Gallery, in Victoria, B.C.. These three portfolios, along with “Partners” (1 and 2), form the foundation of Teneda’s photographic work. The subjects of these photographs were friends, acquaintances and often strangers, met in what Teneda called “chance encounters”, during her travels around the cities of Victoria and Vancouver.

Teneda wrote about the portfolio, “Personal Symbols”, in 1993, “I believe these subcultures are very important to record, as they strongly reflect the society we live in today; they reveal a Canada of creative diversity”.

The “Drag Kings” body of work, was developed over many years. These photographs were exhibited, as well as reproduced, on calendars and greeting cards, through 10 Percent Productions, in Los Angeles, California.

Albert was a favourite subject of Teneda’s, she photographed him over many years and in a great number of locations. Teneda was drawn to Albert because of his ability to create a wide variety of looks.

Teneda’s shoots were very thoughtfully planned, with sites visited in advance, and props and clothing carefully sourced. An example of a more spontaneous approach to image making can be seen in “Skater Kids”. These three were chanced upon by Teneda, and the images were shot over one session, in 1993.

Tom McGlynn, artist, curator and writer wrote in 1993: “Teneda Webber’s commitment to her work is a sustained and focused exploration of her chosen medium, photography. How the photograph can vividly depict a demographic specificity, with regards her subject; her contemporary social reality, is revealed in the seemingly uncomposed and spontaneous series of prints she has produced in her “Private Worlds” series”.

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Note: Photo releases were signed for the publication of all images on this site.

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