"Learning to See with Heart," which opens at Muskoka Arts & Crafts’ Chapel Gallery on August 30, is an exhibition about how three generations of photographers from one family see the world differently and at times, the same.

"The concept of this three generation family photography show is, for me, more about family than photography," remarks Jamie, an accomplished musician, glass blower and photographer. "Learning to see photographically is about learning to see with heart and how ultimately everything the father might have taught the son about light probably originated less from photography books and more from throwing a ball in the backyard."

Scattered about the Sherman house, were books and magazines about photography, albums filled with photographs and camera equipment. A constant backdrop to the faint odor of photographic chemicals that wafted from the darkroom was the sound of camera shutters and earnest discussions about the merits and pitfalls of colour, contrast and composition.

"In my house, you couldn’t ignore photography," recalls Jamie who was born and raised in Hamilton and whose family established the Dominion Steel Casting Company in 1912 that eventually became Dofasco, one of Canada’s most successful steel producers. While Jamie’s brother Frank continued with the family’s steel legacy, Jamie followed in his father’s artistic footsteps.

In his late teens, Jamie was given a birthday present of a 35mm camera with two lenses. This sealed an already growing interest. By his early 20s, Jamie was a professional folk musician, playing his acoustic guitar and banjo in Toronto nightspots and shooting moody cityscapes and developing grainy images in a light-leaking kitchen darkroom.

"My father would show me his latest old barn and flower shots and look tolerantly but comment encouragingly about my images of the underside of city life," tells Jamie. "His pictures were eventually published in magazines and shown at the Art of Gallery of Hamilton with mine remaining obscure until a need to fill up wall space behind my blown glass shows brought them to light, sometimes energized by encouragement."

Late in the 1970s, a serendipitous turn of events introduced Jamie to glassblowing. He enrolled in a glassmaking course at the Sheridan School of Design in Mississauga but was too impatient to complete it, staying long enough to learn the basics. Eventually, he built his Bracebridge studio in 1980. The ensuing years have been filled with awards, honours, and commissions, all evidence of the respect his work commands within the arts community. Photography, however, has always been at the core of how Jamie expresses his visual world.

Like his father, Jamie’s twenty-two year old son, Zander, couldn’t ignore photography in his house. As the family started to travel to the American Southwest each year, Jamie would notice the eight year old’s keen attention whenever he would stop to set up a tripod, trying to capture one ineffable scene after another. "Then, one day, with his own camera, I noticed him taking his first pictures, of me taking pictures. Soon, I noticed that he had swung his camera around the other way," Jamie narrates.

Selecting the work to be included in the exhibition was a challenging task. "For me, it was selecting the right pieces from an enormous range and the elation that came in seeing the work side by side," says Zander who will be showing a range of landscapes and portraits beside his father’s close-up portraits and grandfather’s photographs of the abstract patterns form in nature.

"I am excited to create a display of how this love of photography has been such a strong part of the fabric of my family – the basis for many discussions about form, composition and colour – the basis for a deeper understanding of each other through seeing what the other person sees in ways that such understanding might otherwise not have manifested," Jamie reflects.

Learning to See with Heart opens with an artists’ reception on Saturday, August 30,between 1pm and 4pm.

The Chapel Gallery is located in Bracebridge at 15 King Street. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, from 10am to 1pm and from 2pm until 5pm. Learning to See with Heart continues until September 20. For more information, please call Muskoka Arts & Crafts at 705-645-5501 or visit their web site at www.muskokaartsandcrafts.com