When Adam Menzies takes a photograph, it’s usually not when someone’s holding still. Sometimes it’s of a dancer leaping up in a gymnastics pose, other times it’s in Mother Nature with the subject splashing around in a lake.
The local resident, who’s one of six artists featured in the Arts Council’s New West Pride group exhibit, is an instructor at the Vancouver Circus School. Menzies is also a three-time world medalist in the sport of trampoline gymnastics, winning a gold and silver medal in 2003. He’s toured with Cirque du Soleil, Cavalia and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. But it wasn’t until the latter that he discovered his love for being behind the camera.
“Working on the cruise ship, I was surrounded by amazing dancers constantly,” Menzies said. “I would offer the dancers on board, ‘You know, I’ll do a photoshoot of you guys if you want.’”
Fast forward two years later and Menzies’s work, focused around movement and dance, is currently on display at the Centennial Lodge in Queen’s Park – a first for the artist.
“For a lot of artists, this tends to be their first exhibition or close to the beginning of their career,” said Stephen O’Shea, the Art Council’s executive director.
For Menzies, it “means a lot.”
“Mostly because I’m branching out artistically,” he said. “It tells me that I’m able to achieve more than just the circus career I’ve had or the high-performance gymnastics career that I’ve had, and that I’m not done artistically.”
Menzies noted he fell in love with gymnastics after watching the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA, which prompted him to play on the trampoline in his backyard even more so than before.
“My mom was worried about me getting hurt, so they put me in gymnastics at Flip City in Langley,” he recalled. “That’s when I met my coach and he was like, ‘I’m going to make you a national champion.’”
Between then and now, Menzies has broken his fair share of bones, including both his feet and his back.
“It happens,” he laughed. “It’s sort of that occupational hazard.”
Looking ahead, Menzies sees photography as a secondary career to what he’s currently doing.
The New West Pride group exhibit runs until Aug. 16, Tuesday through Sunday, from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Menzies will be on hand on Aug. 14 for the Art Council’s “Pride Arts Celebration,” which goes from 6 to 8 p.m. His eight photographs at the gallery range between $250 and $350.
