Ski Presse

Full-time photographer,
part-time gypsy
It’s October 2nd, seven and change in the morning. With a just-out-of-bed head of
hair and pillow creases stamped into his face, Reuben Krabbe is beaming. On his
way to Utah to cover a mountain-biking event, the photographer is getting ready to
do one of the things he likes best : capture the glory of time spent in the mountains.
Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Reuben Krabbe now lives
in Whistler, British Columbia. He grew up in the Canadian
prairies, but always yearned for the West and the Rockies.
Even as a child, he loved skiing and mountain biking. “My
friends and I biked a lot,” he remembers. As a teen, Reuben
found himself holding a camera, to document his sporting
achievements and those of his buddies. In short order, the
thing that had been just a way to remember great times
and learn new tricks became transformed into a marked
interest in photography.
“One of my friends dug out his dad’s old SLR camera. I found
out that rather than staying in a cool spot, I could actually play
with exposure and focus and all these different things. That
was a trigger point to actually starting to get into controlling
everything. From there, it developed from a hobby to a very expensive hobby,” says
Reuben, with a smile.
When it came time, at the end of high school, to choose what he’d study, Reuben
didn’t have to spend hours searching his soul. Photography was his passion. It was
really the only option imaginable.
“I didn’t really have any other places I wanted to go. Even though photography isn’t
necessarily the smartest career to go into from a financial point of view, I was, like, ’I
love photography. I enjoy doing it. Why wouldn’t I do it ?’”
He headed to British Columbia for the first time, where he attended the Western
Academy of Photography. “So I went to a photography school for a year in Victoria. The
way they did it was great. They brought in different
teachers for every different type of photography. There
was a wedding photographer, a fashion photographer,
architecture, portraiture, advertising, pretty much
everything,” he says, grinning.
Back in Alberta after completing his studies, Reuben
was able to land a few contracts but, with an injured
knee, he had to abandon any activities deemed to be
“reckless.” That meant no skiing, no mountain biking.
It was a hard year during which he had to work, for
several months, in a job he hated. To get his life back
on track, he decided to have a knee operation.
As soon as his health was up to it, Reuben returned to
British Columbia, where his bohemian side led to the
life of a gypsy, sleeping in his car and couch-surfing while visiting
friends. He made the most of the time, sharpening his photographic
skills and getting as many shots as he could under his belt.
With no real attachments or responsibilities in Alberta, Reuben
finally decided to settle in Whistler and work his trade full-time. “I
was there for about a year,” he says,” when I decided that Whistler
was going to be my home for a good long time !”
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