Curriculum Vitae : Jimmy Cochrane a Biography of sorts
I was a University science student when my girlfriend in the School of Architecture forgot how to develop film, it looked like basic chemistry to me, so I processed and printed. I was intrigued and continued on my own doing landscape details with a large format camera with 5x7 inch film. After University I personally I continued with my 5x7 contact prints culminating in an Ontario Arts Council supported show in 1980. Professionally I worked for an industrial film company shooting a low speed 16mm film in factories, forests, mines, paper mills and office situations across Canada. We used a lot of lights. Everyone was laid off from the film company in Oct 1979. I became a self- employed advertising, commercial and architectural photographer. This work allowed me to play and finance, to investigate the languages and dictions, and grammars of a variety of materials and processes relating to works on paper. I experimented and made pieces for lovers, clients, friends and family. I also volunteered my services for various charitable and some dance organizations that allowed me to use a variety of processes. I don’t like colour ‘C’, chromogenic prints, I always thought they were too thick. If I was to go ‘on press’ I needed a project, a ‘paper maker’, a ‘printer’, a ‘film house’ a ‘dance company’, an ‘orchestra’ or a ‘design house’ which wished to use my skills in aid of their practice. My solutions, were scanned and used in ‘posters’ or other ‘halftone screen’ products, made on four to eight colour presses; conventional offset printing on a great sheet of paper. Jim Cochrane