Coveted ‘photographer artist of the year’ awarded for second year to Danielle Barabé-Bussières

(Danielle Barabé-Bussières poses with her 2021 Photographer Artist of the Year Award. Our community fox, Alex, was one of her entered photographs recognized by the Professional Photographers of Canada when awarding the title to Danielle.)

Photography is Danielle Barabé-Bussières’ passion. A Stittsville resident and professional photographer, Danielle can be found with her lens focused on our local wildlife and nature. Danielle captured incredibly beautiful photos of our community fox – Alex – with whom she built a trusting friendship over a period of time and shared her photos with Stittsville Central in May of 2020.

Becoming a member of the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC) in 2014, Danielle worked hard to achieve the professional level. She was finally successful in October 2016 when she was recognized with two accreditations – one each in the wildlife and nature categories. In 2019, she was the Ontario PPOC Photographic Artist of the Year and her images were exhibited in the Provincial Image Salon. In 2020, Danielle made it to the apex of photography – she was chosen as the National Photographic Artist of the Year. Danielle’s hard work was realized with the award of this honour. Again in 2021, at the annual Awards Gala that was held virtually, Danielle received this prestigious and deserving award.

“When Danielle Barabé-Bussières was announced as the 2021 Photographic Artist of the Year, she became quite emotional and was virtually speechless. Fortunately, her work speaks for itself and her passion shines through in everything she creates” shares Terry Tinkess of the PPOC.

We caught up with Danielle to congratulate her on her win and hear her thoughts on receiving this award for the second year. She shared with Stittsville Central, “this year again, there were outstanding images and I truly did not think I would win the National image competition for a second year in a row. I was just happy to be amongst the 16 other semi-finalists. On the evening of the Awards Gala, I watched the presenters announce the 3 finalists, and to my surprise, I was one of them. Again this year, I see the beautiful images from the other 2 photographers and am set on the one I think will win the title of Photographic Artist of the Year – then, I hear – ‘And the winner of the artistic photographer of the year is – ME’. I was overjoyed! I was jumping up and down (in my pyjamas) and just tearing up – full of joy – I was truly speechless! I was so surprised and not expecting this outcome.”

The four images submitted by Danielle to the PPOC this year are confirmation of the scope of her work. Three of her images achieved Merit Status (Bohemian Rhapsody, Majestic Hunter and Wrap of Softness) with the fourth receiving Accepted Status (Hazy Day in Constance Bay).

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Terry Tinkess added, “Since 2014, when she invested in her first “serious” camera, Danielle has developed her skills, to the point where her images are uniquely her own. Her philosophy: keep it simple.”

Danielle has a vision for her upcoming retirement years from her 9-5 career, “as for my retirement plans, I still want to do product photography (which she had shared with us in 2019), but my current dream is to open an art gallery – where I can display not only my art but other artists’ artwork of all mediums. I have been successful in selling my art in the past couple of years and would love to have a place where all of my work can be displayed. Seeing an image on a screen is nice, but looking at a large print of your work is truly rewarding. We will see where that dream takes me!” A Stittsville art gallery managed and owned by Danielle would be a welcome addition to the community.

Danielle invites everyone to visit her website or follow her Facebook page to view or purchase her amazing photographic art. She can also be contacted via email: danielle.barabebussieres@gmail.com. A fall art sale is also in the works to be held in Stittsville – watch for upcoming details.