We’ve teamed up with our friends at Destination BC to spotlight some of our favourite photographers living and working in our home province, British Columbia. Next up is Jeremy Koreski, sharing images from a fishing trip up in the Cariboo region of BC. See more images and read our interview with Jeremy below.
Interview with Jeremy Koreski
Booooooom: Do you feel spoiled living in BC?
Jeremy Koreski: Yes. It is the fresh clean air, pristine water and the abundance of locally produced food together with our diverse landscape that makes BC a place that will always be home for me.
Booooooom: After having grown up in Tofino, is it even possible for you to ever feel at home in a big city?
Jeremy Koreski: When I was growing up in Tofino the big city was where I wanted to be and I spent a couple of summers there skateboarding. It wasn’t until I graduated and started travelling that I realized how special Tofino is. Now I enjoy visiting the city, but love living in the country.
“Vanity license plates give serious parking lot cred in these parts.”
“Dry fly fishing on the surface is regarded as one of the most exciting forms of fly fishing.”
“Never travel with just one.”
Booooooom: I read that your dad gave you your first camera when you were 14. How long did it take you to realize it was something you were good at?
Jeremy Koreski: I’d take the Canon ae1 that my dad had given me to the skatepark and on snowboard and surf trips when I was in my teens. It wasn’t so much about becoming good at photography, it was more about having fun.
Booooooom: Did you inherit your eye for photography from your parents? Were they artistic?
Jeremy Koreski: Both my parents invested a lot of time keeping my brother, sisters and I outside and on adventures when we were growing up in Tofino. I feel like my eye is something that I developed over years of looking at the coast through my camera.
“Stunning textures and colors of a rainbow trout”
“Hyalella shrimp are a common food source for foraging rainbow trout. The fact that they measure in at less than 5mm makes them very difficult to imitate with a fly.”
Booooooom: How would you describe your approach to photography?
Jeremy Koreski: My approach is to put myself in unique situations and photograph what is happening around me. It’s been that way since I began.
Booooooom: So it hasn’t changed at all over the years?
Jeremy Koreski: I don’t think my approach has changed, but I do see light differently now.
“Sheridan Lake sunset on the Cariboo Plateau.”
“BC’s rainbow trout are revered for their acrobatics.”
” An abundance of fish allows guests to retain their limit of organic wild trout. Smoking your catch is a tradition that continues at many fishing camps on the Fishing Highway 24.”
Booooooom: Are you the kind of person that’s always ready to capture the moment with a camera? Are there times when you opt to be in the moment without documenting it?
Jeremy Koreski: Im not a photographer that always has a camera with me, but with outdoor photography and surf photography specifically – when everything comes together, the wind, the swell, the tide and then the light – I’m running around like a mad man trying to capture ever moment. I can count on one hand the times that have be truly epic shooting surf on the west coast in the last 15 years, so when it does happen it’s magic.
“Nothing beats a guided drift-boat trip on the pristine water of the Clearwater River near Wells Gray Provincial Park.”
“Caught and released to fight another day.”
“Fishing under a 20-meter high waterfall for wild rainbow trout is a bucket list experience.”
“Handcrafted in BC, these beautiful wooded nets are a common tool for the still water angler.”
Booooooom: Of all the images you’ve created, can you describe one that is particularly meaningful for you?
Jeremy Koreski: There is an image that I simply titled Eagle Crow that I shot in the Tofino harbour a few years back. The composition with the angry crow chasing the grinning eagle looks like a composite, which it’s not.
Booooooom: Who are some other local photographers that are inspiring you these days?
Jeremy Koreski: Some of the local photographers I’m looking up to are Jordan Manley, Sterling Lorence, April Benze, Adam Chilton, Alana Paterson, Grant Harder, Kenta Goto, Graeme Owsianski. There are so many great photographers in BC doing great work.
Booooooom: Is there a place in BC you haven’t been to yet but would like to explore?
Jeremy Koreski: I’d love to explore the whole west coast of Vancouver Island as well as the coast up to Alaska. The kind of places that are only accessible by boat that see very few visitors. Next August I’m planning a trip around Vancouver Island with my wife and daughter in our 20’ welded aluminum boat that I am looking forward too already.
Booooooom: What’s the next project for you?
Jeremy Koreski: I’ve got a lot on the go over the next year with a book project I’m working on, as well as a photo series about my friend Matahil Lawson who is a local boat builder and Coast Guard captain who grew up in Tofino. It’s going to be a fun year!
“Last casts are often the most memorable.”
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