GRACE ATHENE GORDON-COLLINS, RCA M.Arch, BFA, BID website: www.gracegordon-collins.ca I have always been an observer and a storyteller and, as a result, my work invariably starts in a narrative structure. My approach to photography has been clearly influenced by my early studies at the Center of Advanced Visual Studies at M.I.T. under the iconic photographer, Minor White. It was one of Minor’s approaches to image making he referred to a “heightened awareness” that has informed my own work and assisted me in moving to that more intuitive realm of space, time and the mystical where, to me, the essence of the photographic image resides. This process, along with the parallel and conceptual influences of my recent studies at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design and a career in architecture and design has given my work a multi-layered quality: mystical at times, pragmatic and structured at others.