For Dick Evans, what started as a hobby to take his mind off the stressed-out life of the high-powered chief executive officer has turned into a passion - and a business.

The former Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. CEO and corporate director unleashes his inner artist through the medium of photography. Over the years, with the advice of his artistically minded wife, Gretchen, Mr. Evans has developed his skills as a photographer, producing vivid, colourful shots of landscapes and people taken on his travels around the world.

"Photography gave me something I could use to distance myself from business. I could clear my mind. It became more of a passion," Mr. Evans, 63, said over coffee in the breakfast nook of his Montreal home.

"It's something I would look forward to after a strenuous day of work. It was a therapeutic way of dealing with all the work-related travel."

Now, Mr. Evans and professional photographer Bob Hendriks have founded an online photography gallery that showcases and sells the images of promising photographers.

Called In Transit Images, the website provides a commercial platform to help emerging artists reach a broader audience. Half of the venture's profits will be used to supplement a photography fellowship Mr. Evans and his wife set up at Montreal's Concordia University.

The online gallery sells prints by its stable of artists, including those of Mr. Evans and Mr. Hendriks; businesses and individuals can also secure the rights to use the images. Archival-quality books can also be produced, and budding photographers can obtain support if they wish to self-publish.

As the name implies, the focus of the website is on travel-based photography. "It's travel and images of the world," said Mr. Evans, whose own portfolio includes shots taken in India, New Zealand, Iceland, Japan and many other countries.