Pursuit 365 Day 172: Jodi Brown

Jodi Brown isn’t shy when looking through her camera lens because she has six years of experience in professional sports photography and videography. It’s given her the confidence to get in the moment and capture that one-second moment for all to experience and enjoy.

Jodi Brown always had a passion for capturing fast-paced moments of life into a still image, so in 2015 Brown decided to follow that passion and began her pursuit to become a photographer.

She started by getting permission to take pictures from her seat at the Halifax Hurricane basketball games to practice her craft. A year later, she was able to take photos from the hardwood floor, and that was the moment Brown’s drive to become a sports photographer went into full gear.

In 2017 she expanded her skills into videography. She became, as she likes to call it, “the camera girl” for the Post Game Recap Interviews with top players in the National Basketball League of Canada.

And throughout this journey, she became more and more involved with her community. Jodi’s life experiences with an illness opened her eyes, and she started noticing the needs of her neighbours were not being met as well. She started to speak out and do as much as she could to help improve the wellness of those around her. Brown began to appear in the local news pushing for changes around affordable housing, social assistance rates and period poverty.

For the first time in 10 years, she got Nova Scotia to inspect over 230 homes in subsidized housing. They also set up times in the evenings where tenants could tell the province about their shelter and maintenance issues in public housing. For this work, Brown was awarded the Brave Heart Award, which honours extraordinary individuals that support their communities.

Jodi became an anti-poverty advocate and started volunteering at the food bank to learn the deeper issues her community faced.

Her efforts didn’t stop there. Her activism also helped introduce a private member’s bill to the Income Assistance Act to add additional funds for menstrual products for those on income assistance. Her efforts also contributed to other organizations making a change: Halifax libraries and some local universities started offering free menstrual products in their bathrooms.

Brown’s photography and videography experience has helped her develop an eye not only for an impressive shot with a camera but for also noticing the true needs of people around her, even when they are sometimes too nervous about seeking help.

“I just learned over time that I can’t be afraid or timid,” says Brown, “because then you miss the chance at capturing that moment forever.”