Alex Meyboom owns a view of the world that is precisely 140 degrees from one side to the other.
It makes the Toronto-based photographer's take on things -- framed in the panoramic lens of a vintage Widelux camera and captured on film -- not unlike our own. What Meyboom does is allow us to stop and look for as long as we want.
The 26 photographs that make up his first solo exhibition Unexpected Moments that is currently showing at the Anderson Gallery in this pretty seaside town are engrossing. The selection of black-and-white images shot over the last 15 years depict locations far and wide -- from Nova Scotia's Hirtle's Beach and Florida's Fort Lauderdale to London and Bucharest, Vimy Ridge and the Dead Sea.
The Anderson Gallery is housed in one of Lunenburg's classic waterfront buildings and is spare, spacious and rustic -- all unfinished wood and natural, seaside light on the second floor that houses the exhibit.
The full-frame images are encompassing. The edges pull you in. Meyboom adores simplicity and he uses what is arguably the only camera on the planet that allows him to reach that goal.
The Widelux -- first introduced in 1948 and popularized today by actor Jeff Bridges, who recently published a book of photos shot with his own Widelux -- uses regular 35-millimetre film but produces horizontal images that reach out to encircle the viewer.
The lens swings from left to right, capturing the image as it pans. Just like what we see with our eyes, everything is in proper proportion; human faces are round, long legs seem so and unlike photos taken with a regular wide lens, the edges aren't distorted.
Meyboom first used one on the prairies on a corporate shoot about Canada-U.S. border towns and never looked back.
In today's world of digital cameras and enormous lenses, the vintage Widelux is decidedly low tech and operates with a wonderful ease. The camera has a choice of only two apertures and two shutter speeds and a fixed lens.
"It's beautifully simple. You don't have to fuss with all the things you normally fuss with in a camera," Meyboom said. "I get to spend all my time just looking for the image. It freezes moments in time and captures life in a way no other camera does. In my corporate life, I have so much equipment, so much lighting that I can use to make something work. With this, it either works or it doesn't and it's really exhilarating to see what happens."
The photos are rich and deeply textured and the perspective most often allows the picture to tell more than a single story.
There's a lot going on in Meyboom's photographs, some of which even he doesn't see until he prints them. The viewfinder isn't able to show 10 per cent of each side of the frame the lens sees. What shows up around the edges often surprises even Meyboom.
He likes that the Widelux allows him to shoot less obtrusively. Often the people in his photos are totally unaware they have been caught in the frame, giving his work a candidness and honesty. The camera lends itself to not fussing in other ways also -- when he's in the right headspace, Meyboom can spot a scene, rip off three or four frames and that's it.
Born and raised in Ottawa, Meyboom currently makes his home in Toronto with his wife and two children, and has been vacationing on Nova Scotia's South Shore since he was a kid. But he travels the world for his profession as a commercial photographer and the pictures he makes for himself come from all corners of it, places both exotic and unpretentious.
His sensibilities don't change no matter what he's shooting.
"I always feel like an artist because I'm creating an image; whether it's for myself or for a client, it's the same headspace," he said.
"You have to slip into that place and solve the problem. I see it in my head and then I have to create it. With a client they impose restrictions and boundaries. In some ways, it's harder because you have these specific restrictions, but when you're doing it for yourself, you do the same thing. It doesn't happen until I make it happen."
Unexpected Moment, at the Anderson Gallery, 160 Montague St. in Lunenburg, N.S., closes today.