Always on the move
-and loving every minute of it
PROFESSIONAL travel and tourism photographer/ artist, British-born Ian Brierley  plied his trade  in Kuwait, in the Persian Gulf,  in 1990.
He left that country for home on August 1, 1990, one day before the Iraqi forces invaded,  triggering the war now known in history as the Gulf War.
Brierley, now in Guyana,  said last week: “I had no idea that war was about to break loose. Leaving Kuwait just one day before was what I would call a close shave.”
The stint in faraway Kuwait as a photographer and artist is typical of the lifestyle of the Britisher.
He has plied his trade in nearly every country in the world, and has amassed several awards for his work.
Taking out photographs in England and doing art work for clients  six months a year, then travelling to France, or Germany, or  Switzerland or  Holland, the Middles East,  Africa, the Caribbean and of course  Guyana, Brierley is a globetrotter; always on the move and loving  every minute of it.
The Britisher is now in Guyana for his twelfth visit (or is it his fifteenth?), displaying his unique photography  and  artistic skills  about Guyana for Guyanese, once again.
During a visit to the Guyana Chronicle last week, Brierley displayed several works of  his  photography and art on Guyana, great works of art  by any standards.
His stock included four Chinese-type scrolls illustrating scenes of Guyana,  and  several greeting cards illustrated with photographs of local  buildings, nature and the landscape.
He described the four scrolls as luxury souvenir scrolls on canvas promoting Guyana. One comprises photographs illustrating the  historic architecture of Georgetown, and another the mighty Kaieteur Falls, and an equally majestic Harpy Eagle. A third is of Amerindians, and the fourth a scroll of animals of the rainforest.
Brierley said he has in stock over 3,000 images of different scenes in Guyana, which he collected during previous visits and this current one. Scenes of Amerindians in their villages, mountains, creeks,  animals  in the bush, location scenes such as Kurupung Landing,  Apoteri, Santa Rosa, Mabaruma, Kurupung,  historic Georgetown Architecture,  the Kaieteur Falls, the Harpy eagle, one  with the Guyana emblem made to look like hammered gold: Scenes  all capturing, in high-quality photography, elements   uniquely Guyanese.
These  photographs are the materials which he uses to produce his Chinese-type scrolls with many things Guyanese, and with a piece of bamboo at the top and a piece at the bottom making it easy to hang them on walls.
The photographs are also used on the cover of the distinctive  greeting cards he produces, these being converted to look like sketches. In the  rainforest scroll comprising  nature photographs,  there is a monkey looking at a jaguar; the jaguar at an anaconda;  the anaconda at a caiman; and the caiman at …you, the onlooker.
For  historic architecture photographs, Brierley has photographs (made to look like sketches) of many buildings in Georgetown, which he took before some of them were pulled down or razed by fire.
These include one of the Sacred Heart Church on Main Street, which he took from every possible angle, including an aerial shot just a few months before that building went up in flames in 2004.The Church lives on in his greeting cards.
Brierley, who hails from Yorkshire, England, said he got his first camera as a gift when he was 16 years old. He took training in art, and then found the unique combination of art and photography that is his trademark. Brierley, who is a bachelor, describes himself as a worldwide roaming photographer  and artist.
He first came to Guyana in 1995 at the invitation of a Guyanese who was doing business with a friend in England. He  has returned on several occasions since then. He always looks forward to his  trips to Guyana, in between visits to other countries worldwide.
He is such a well-known visitor to Guyana, that as soon as he arrives at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, the immigration staffers would address him as ‘Ian’, and  most would then invariably ask: “Where you been so long, man?”
Of his work, Brierley said: “I enjoy doing art; I find it very relaxing, and what I have been doing is converting photographs into paintings; changing a photograph into a work of art.”
He has done exhibitions of his work in the past in Guyana, the first one being in 1999 at the Pegasus Hotel, which was declared open by the late President Janet Jagan.
He’s prepared to mount an exhibition even now, he said. “If someone hosts a venue… Sure! Why not!
When he is not shooting photographs or doing art work, Brierley is engaged in keeping fit. He has a bike which he describes as a hybrid: Half mountain bike, and half street bike.
He said: “When you travel from A to B by bicycle, you get to see everything in between; you   find something to photograph, and you just stop and photograph.” He celebrated his 52nd birthday last week. Said he: “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke; I always go to the gym and I ride my bike everywhere  I go.”
He is in England six months a year, during which time he tours the country extensively. He has his bike and his camper, a Volkswagen van with a photographic studio inside. The camper has a toilet, a washing and cooking area, a washroom, a television, and other conveniences.  “On the road,” he said, “sometimes I go over to France, Germany, Switzerland, or Holland. My camper has everything inside, so when I am on the road, I don’t have to check into hotels.”
Brierley worked for some time with British Airways as a display, advertising and marketing consultant, a job which required him to be innovative and creative with art and design, and to generate ideas to promote destinations that airlines and tour operators wanted to promote.
He has interacted with cameramen of the Chronicle Newspapers on previous visits, sharing his techniques and skills with them. He is available for one-on-one tuition covering display, advertising techniques, from concept to practical application, composition, how to improve  photography on assignments such as weddings, portraits and landscapes  plus tips on Photoshop and how to build a professional-looking website and upload and publish for free.
Brierley  also wants to do a scroll depicting Guyanese women of all races, and is inviting young ladies,  one of each of the races of Guyana,  who would like to pose for a 5th scroll to send him their particulars by email, along with a recent photo of themselves.
He can be contacted for  more information  on where to get his scrolls and greeting cards, on a venue for tuition  workshops  and  on participation for the 5th scroll at Telephone #  674 4620,  or email icbrierley@hotmail.com
Brierley arrived from Barbados in November after doing similar photography and art work  on Barbados for Barbadians.
He leaves for Trinidad in late January to do the same thing for Trinidad and Trinidadians during carnival, and then after that will move on to somewhere else not yet determined.
Grinning widely, he said last week: “People ask me where I am based; I say Planet Earth.  I am a global citizen; if I had a spaceship, I would be off somewhere in the universe.”