THE ECO ISSUE FEATURING
VERDANT LUMINUL THE ECO-FRIENDLY DARKROOM NICK HAWKINS CONSERVATION PHOTOJOURNALIST FALL 2021
ROCIO GRAHAM FOREST MIRACLES TAYLOR ROADES AERIAL PERSPECTIVE
+ MORE! photoED 1
N A I Y D H A P N A EW R A C G O N T D O PH BRAN IN A T. LIGH
IN INT R P W! O N
E N I L N N O O E E U B S I S I R T C S S TE R SUB A L A E C O H . T S D E GET SSTAND O T O W E N .PH
W W W
Rugged outdoor backpacks with the reimagined Lowepro Flipside III Collection
Flipside BP 300 AW III Black
Flipside BP 300 AW III Dark Grey
Flipside BP 400 AW III Black
Flipside BP 400 AW III Dark Grey
Flipside III Back side access with enhanced protection features Designed for DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, multiple lenses and accessories.
lowepro.com #loweprobags
Lowepro products are distributed in Canada exclusively by Gentec International. One of Canada’s Best Managed Companies • gentec-intl.com
MARK ESSNER
“ A few years ago, near Chatham, Ontario, I stumbled across a place that was both intriguing and horrifying...” IG: @CavendishSights frommyeyetoyours.com
IN THIS ISSUE... 10 RESOURCES WE LOVE 13
S AMANTHA STEPHENS: LITTLE THINGS + BIG CHANGES By Briar Chaput
18 JOHN HEALEY PLASTIC BEACH 20
VERDANT LUMINUL By Mark Walton
25 COFFEE FOR FILM By Kate Roy 26 THE AERIAL PERSPECTIVE By Taylor Roades
30 NICK HAWKINS ADVENTURER & CONSERVATION PHOTOGRAPHER By Rita Godlevskis 40 ROCIO GRAHAM FOREST MIRACLES 46 ANNIE BRIARD IN POSSIBLE LANDS By Katherine Dennis 52 READERS GALLERY Submissions by our readers
THANK YOU
THESE AMAZING PEOPLE SUPPORT US AS PATRONS! (AND GET EXTRA PERKS!) 4×5 Large Format Official VIP Patrons Judith Cole Ken Udle Valerie Lancia Ian McKenzie Mark Walton
JOIN US!
120mm Official Patrons Gerry Stone Toni Skokovic E. Ross Bradley Anonymous Jeff Baine Laura Jones Katherine Childs Charlene Williams Alan Bulley
FIND OUT MORE:
35mm Official Patrons Jason Cooper Akemi Matsubuchi Jason Machinski Melanie Scaife Selina Pieczonka Steve Simon Ruth Bergen Braun Thomas Brasch Conan Stark Christine Goodyear Blork
patreon.com/photoedmagazine ON THE COVER...
IN POSSIBLE LANDS ANNIE BRIARD
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE...
Our cover features an image from the In Possible Lands series where artist Annie Briard blended images through slide projections of landscape images—one image captured 45 years ago by her father, and the other a present-day image taken by herself. On multiple long-haul hikes across Western Canada and the United States, the artist has been documenting a rapidly changing environment where, over time, evidence of climate change has become impossible to overlook. Annie Briard (BFA, MFA) is a Vancouver-based photography and media artist whose work challenges how we make sense of the world through visual perception. Creating lens-based and lightfocused works, she explores the intersections among perception paradigms in psychology, neuroscience, and existentialism.
ANNIEBRIARD.COM
EDITOR’S NOTE
DILEMMAS IN THE DETAILS THE CLIMATE IS YET ANOTHER GLOBAL CRISIS that affects us all in big ways and small. Sometimes we notice changes in weather patterns in our own cities and towns, or watch news reports on the decline of specific animal populations, or if we pass a garbage bin on the street full of single-use plastics, we can easily see how human activity is damaging and altering the natural world around us, wherever we live. A self portrait shot on expired 35mm colour film developed in Cawanol.
“We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change – and it has to start today.” — Greta Thunberg
Photographs are instrumental in conveying the changes caused by human activity to the public. I’m so excited to present the work of Canadian photographers who have explored this subject in this edition. From adventure and conservation documentary work by Nick Hawkins, to artists like Rocio Graham and John Healey, this edition looks at different ways photographers take this issue on. The photographic process itself is harmful to the planet, but creative and clever artists Bruce Hildesheim, Sanja Lukac, and Francis A. Willey have been experimenting, and I am SO excited to share their results of creating photographic prints using an eco-friendly darkroom process! Thinking about how we could make some changes towards being more eco-friendly in our production process resulted in us facing some
PHOTOED MAGAZINE IS 100% MADE IN CANADA! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
WWW.PHOTOED.CA @photoedmagazine @photoedmagazine
harsh realities. Sadly, the cost of eco-friendly materials is still considerably higher than their non-friendly counterparts. We made some tiny changes in this edition – you might or might not notice. One section of this print publication is printed on eco-friendly paper, and we found some eco-friendly polybags for mailing out our subscribers copies with. Yay! But these changes are nowhere near where we’d like to be. I’m looking forward to future innovations that will allow us to have it all: amazing quality reproductions that use affordable eco-friendly processes. Looking ahead, the Winter 2021 issue will focus on photographic explorations of typologies (think Hilla and Bernd Becher). If you’ve got a subject you’ve been obsessed with, drop us a line. Follow us on Instagram, Patreon, Facebook, and Twitter, and sign up for our e-newsletter to keep up! Your Editor,
Rita Godlevskis rita@photoed.ca
FALL 2021 ISSUE #62 ISSN 1708-282X
Rita Godlevskis /rita@photoed.ca
EDITOR/PUBLISHER ART DIRECTOR
PhotoED Magazine is published 3x/year, SPRING, FALL, & WINTER See www.photoed.ca for subscription and advertising information. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40634032 PhotoED Magazine 2100 Bloor St. West, Suite 6218 Toronto, ON M6S 5A5
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
COPY EDITOR
Ruth Alves Briar Chaput Rocio Graham John Healey Taylor Roades Kate Roy Mark Walton Deborah Cooper
COVER IMAGE : Our cover features an image from the
In Possible Lands series by by Annie Briard. This issue was made possible with the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council.
+ FIND OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS ON
TAKE NOTE: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
TYPOLOGIES SHARE your work with us! For our next issue, we’re looking to share photographic TYPOLOGIES.
photoed.ca/submit-your-work
FREGEIN
SHIPPIN A CANAD
GET THE GUIDE The PhotoEd GUIDE to Photography is a 128-page magazine-format learning and teaching resource. ORDER ONLINE:
PHOTOED.CA/THE-GUIDE
DEADLINE: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
COFFEE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY LOVERS.
FRESH ROASTED COFFEE DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR. #BREW W ITH THE BEST
SPARKPLUGCOFFEE.COM Special BOGO deal for friends of PhotoED Magazine! Buy one and get one for 40% off with the gift code
PHOTOEDFRIEND
CONGRATULATIONS to Toronto photographer Lucas DeClavasio, winner of the SPARK Photo Festival Focus on Coffee competition! We’re excited about putting Lucas’ winning photo on a special edition coffee. Visit sparkplugcoffee.com to check for availability.
ECO TIP: While photographing to explore and highlight environmental issues, help keep our planet green by buying used cameras, lenses and other equipment. We have cabinets full of gear just waiting to contribute to the cause!
1401 W 8th Ave #110 Vancouver, BC V6H 1C9 Phone: 604.734.7771 / Toll free: 1.800.994.2328
www.beauphoto.com
SUBSCRIBE.CA FOR HOME DELIVERY OF HOT, FRESH, PRINT PHOTO GOODNESS.
W
W
P . W
D E O T O H
SUPPORT INDEPENDENT CANADIAN PUBLISHING.
GET INSPIRED
GO GREEN
Check out our recommendations for eco inspiration ISABELLE HAYEUR: MONOGRAPH By Mona Hakim, Peggy Gale, & Ann Thomas Hardcover, 2020, 360 pages Texts in French and English $70 + Shipping Committed to environmental causes since the 1990s, Isabelle Hayeur takes an acute critical look at the changes in our ecosystems caused by the devastating impacts of massive urbanization and industrialization on our territories. This monograph, the most exhaustive publication to date on this artist’s work, leads us to the heart of her creative activity. Bringing together numerous visual documents, from her composite photographs to portraits of citizen gatherings and activist groups by way of videos, installations in public spaces, and reflective texts, this richly illustrated book explores the vast production of an artist who has gained recognition in the contemporary art world, in Quebec and internationally. The texts present the reader with enlightened insights into the artist’s various accomplishments. plein-sud.org
WRITTEN ON STONE $42 CAD + Shipping We are loving the set of three pocket diaries from A Good Company. These notebooks are made from stone paper (literally recycled stone). The paper is a natural white colour, with no specific grain direction, which makes it perfect for writing, drawing, or painting. It is also waterproof, tear-resistant and wrinkle-free. We love the sustainability of the manufacturing process (no water or chemicals are used – only solar energy) and the product itself is the most durable notebook we’ve ever seen. Perfect for slipping into your jacket pocket, this little travel companion will help you keep track of all of your shots and any anecdotes or creative ideas you come up with along the way. Another bonus: they climate-compensate every order they ship! agood.com
OH, HONEY! $55 CAD with Free Shipping Pela’s eco-friendly phone cases have great patterns and are a big step up from your typical plastic case. Pela is on a mission to create less waste, so their cases are 100% compostable while still being super durable, protecting your phone/ camera from drops and scratches. We specifically love their bright yellow “Honey Hive” design. This sleek case easily slides into your pocket or your camera bag, and the bright colour is easy to spot if you misplace it during one of your photo adventures. pelacase.ca
10 photoED
Promoting Contemporary Visual Arts Since 1988
FALL 2021 EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING July 30 – September 11
Kelly Ruth: Persistence Within Dimensions of Ideals Angelina Simon: with warmest regards, always
WATCH THIS. FOREST FOR THE TREES We are beyond excited to share the creative triumph that is photographer Rita Leistner’s latest. Forest for the Trees is a feature documentary film and a book (published by Dewi Lewis UK), based on Rita’s fine art series The Tree Planters and Enchanted Forests, represented by the Stephen Bulger Gallery. Rita is an award-winning multi-media artist and documentary filmmaker with a history of using photography and film to create portraits of communities in extreme conditions — such as soldiers in Iraq, female patients at psychiatric hospitals in wartime, and women wrestlers in the United States — exploring themes of purpose, struggle, and belonging. Forest for the Trees is the story of the vast landscape of clear-cut logging and reforestation as experienced from a community of a hundred tree planters, tree planting by hand in remote locations in Canada. Planting trees one at a time is the overarching metaphor of how we can achieve things we think are impossible: reforesting the earth one tree at a time, getting through life’s challenges one day at a time, and making a film one picture at a time.
September 24 – October 2 Design Week at Harcourt House
Sara Norquay: Citizen of the World Ruta Nichol: The Ceramic Art of Ruta Nichol October 15 – November 27
Becky Thera: 2021 Artist-In-Residence Exhibition Megan Klak: Still December 3 – December 11
2021 Art-O-Rama Art Sale Fundraiser
10215 - 112 Street Edmonton, AB, Canada T5K 1M7 www.harcourthouse.ab.ca info@harcourthouse.ab.ca 780 426 4180
www.forestforthetreesdocumentary.com CAMERON D E V E L O P M E N T C O R P O R A T I O N
PROTECT YOUR
GEAR WITH ONLINE
PHOTOGRAPHY INSURANCE Front Row offers photography insurance available for purchase 100% online. Insure your gear for as low as $100 (plus a fee). Get a quote in 2 minutes; a policy in 5 minutes. Worldwide coverage. Protect your gear against: theft, breakage, fire and more. Liability is also available. Get a free quote 24/7 and buy online:
https://photographer.frontrowinsurance.com
A Westland Company
FAKE NEWS? #REALDEAL!
WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR? Newsroom budgets and staffing levels have been slashed, workload is often overwhelming, and the honesty of your work is being questioned like never before. How do you produce excellent journalism, prove yourself, and improve your work environment?
WE ARE CANADA’S MEDIA UNION We are 6,000 of your fellow media workers in newspapers, digital media, TV and radio. We work at the CBC, The Canadian Press, VICE Canada and newspapers and other companies coast to coast. Being a member of CWA Canada shows everyone what you stand for: decent wages, equal job opportunities, and top-notch journalistic standards and ethics. Our No. 1 job is protecting quality jobs and quality journalism. As journalists, we invite you to find out more.
301 – 2200 Prince of Wales Drive Ottawa ON K2E 6Z9
Phone: 613.820.9777
@cwacanada
Toll Free: 1.877.486.4292
@cwacanada1
Website: cwacanada.ca
SAMANTHA STEPHENS:
Hayden March-Wilson, researcher at the Wildlife Research Station in Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park, helps with the daily survey of a population of carnivorous Northern Pitcher Plants. Illuminating a single plant with his flashlight, he looks for shadows that reveal juvenile Spotted Salamanders trapped within the plant’s numerous bellshaped leaves, called pitchers. © Samantha Stephens
LITTLE THINGS + BIG CHANGES BY BRIAR CHAPUT photoED 13
LEFT: Northern Pitcher Plants are carnivorous, allowing them to survive in nutrient-poor bog environments. Here there is no rich soil, just a floating mat of sphagnum moss, so instead of gaining nutrients through their roots, these plants trap prey in specialized bellshaped leaves. Typically, these plants feast on invertebrates—such as moths and flies—but in 2018, researchers at the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station discovered a new item on the plant’s menu: juvenile Spotted Salamanders. This population of Northern Pitcher Plants in Algonquin Provincial Park is the first to be found regularly consuming a vertebrate prey. © Samantha Stephens
SAMANTHA STEPHENS BEGAN HER in conservation photography with a love of nature JOURNEY and a desire to make a difference. She felt that she needed a
career that would allow her to make a meaningful impact for the environment and conservation causes. She initially pursued a Biology degree in her post-secondary studies. After learning about conservation photography, Sam attended a conference hosted by the International League of Conservation Photographers in Washington, D.C. What she learned there and the people she spoke with motivated her to enrol in the Environmental Visual Communications program at Fleming College, which was partnered with the Royal Ontario Museum. Sam had found her dream job. Conservation photography has truly been Sam’s calling; she says, “There’s never been a doubt in my mind since I’ve started that this is what I want to be doing.” For Sam, this field combined everything that excited her about working in biology, such as being out in the field and working in a hands-on way with nature, with her desire to support tangible action towards saving our planet. Her
14 photoED
interest was also piqued when she realized that she would have the opportunity to delve into a broad range of stories and topics in the natural world. This ability to participate in so many different ecological stories is something that keeps her excited about her work. In 2018, Sam received an Early Career Grant from the National Geographic Society to photograph a story about the wolves in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario. This project is still in progress, and it led her to work out of the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station and learn more about their many scientific research projects. Once there, Sam was invited to extend her stay as a photographer and documentarian for a range of ongoing projects. One of Sam’s most stunning photographic projects documents the newly discovered dietary habits of the Northern Pitcher Plant, a delicate-looking purple-and-greenpatterned plant with bell-shaped leaves that has evolved to become carnivorous. Until recently it was thought that these plants consumed only small insects, such as flies and moths; but, in the last few years, researchers at the Algonquin
RIGHT: 2021 marks the 50th year of the longterm study of Snapping Turtles in Algonquin Provincial Park. Patrick Moldowan, researcher at the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station, measures the top of this turtle’s shell, called the carapace. The same individuals are measured year after year, helping researchers understand the turtle’s growth rate and build models that help inform age estimates of unknown individuals. 50 years may sound like a long time to study an animal, but these ancient beings are estimated to have a maximum lifespan that could be well over 100 years. © Samantha Stephens
RIGHT: Each spring, Painted Turtles at the long-term study site in Algonquin Provincial Park are brought to the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station for their annual ‘check-up.’ After they are measured, weighed, and have their unique ID codes transcribed in paint on their shells, they are released back into their home pond. The painted numbers allow researchers to observe individuals from afar, without disturbing their behaviour, as they study basking and nesting behaviour throughout the season. © Samantha Stephens
photoED 15
Wildlife Research Station discovered that they were catching something new: young Spotted Salamanders. Sam was able to document the discovery of the first population of Northern Pitcher Plants that were seen to be regularly capturing vertebrate prey. Not only was she able to document this incredible finding, but she was also able to provide rare visual insights about the scientists and their research processes. She says, “Most people don’t get to experience science up-close.” By focusing on both the micro (the subjects) and the macro (the scientific research and those conducting it), Sam is able to bring a fresh perspective to what goes into the study of our natural world. Another highlight of Sam’s work has been her time spent documenting Ontario’s freshwater turtles. As more and more roadways are built in Ontario, these developments encroach on the turtles’ habitats, as well as dramatically increase the number of turtles run over by vehicles each year. Sam has followed multiple teams of scientists looking to understand these species, its history, the decline in its population numbers, and the effect of this decline on its surrounding ecosystems, as well as possible effective solutions for mitigating turtle road mortality. One aspect to conservation photography that makes entering the field difficult for young women photographers is the fact that it is overwhelmingly male-dominated. As Sam says, “As
a woman it can be challenging to find mentors or people willing to bring you out into the field as an assistant, which can be a huge, career-changing opportunity to build skills.” Two great initiatives are combatting this systemic lack of opportunity. The first is Girls Who Click, which Sam explains, “was founded by photographer Suzi Eszterhas, who offers free workshops for young women to promote nature and conservation as a career option and provides female role models in this line of work.” The second is Her Wild Vision Initiative (HWVI). Founded by photographers Morgan Heim and Jaymi Heimbuch, HWVI is a directory of women and non-binary conservation photographers that editors can access to hire for assignments based on location, areas of expertise, and other parameters. Although human effects on nature such as a turtle’s dangerous experience on a roadway may not make front-page news, this seemingly small impact is indicative of larger impacts on the ecosystems of our world. Many may not be able to see these developments immediately, but highlighting these disruptions is necessary in helping us see how human activity has changed our natural world. See more of Sam’s work at: stephenssamantha.com IG: @samanthastephens_
LEFT: The long-term monitoring of small mammals at the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station has been ongoing since 1952, making it the longestrunning study of its kind in the world. “Sm’mammals,” as they’re referred to by the researchers, can be used as an indicator of ecosystem health. Live trap lines in the forest of Algonquin Provincial Park allow researchers to record abundance, body condition, and survival of mice, voles, shrews, and squirrels by giving the animals tiny ear tags before releasing them back into the forest. Here a researcher holds up a Jumping Mouse about to be released. © Samantha Stephens
16 photoED
TOP: Amanda Semenuk, a graduate student at the University of Guelph, studies the recently discovered interaction between juvenile Spotted Salamanders and Northern Pitcher Plants. Each day from August to October she records juvenile salamanders trapped in the bell-shaped leaves of the plants. Here she walks through her study site to visit each of the Northern Pitcher Plants that are part of her study. © Samantha Stephens
RIGHT: Tracey Yu, research assistant at the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station, uses tinfoil to measure the surface area of the damaged parts of a shed moose antler. Male Antler Flies, tiny flies about the size of a fruit fly, will defend territories on this antler, with the damaged areas being prime real estate as they provide access to the marrow of the bone. Antler Flies were first described to Western science at the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station and since then they’ve been used as a model to investigate questions of evolutionary ecology, such as how early life nutrition might influence aging. © Samantha Stephens
17 photoED
“In the North American Great Lakes it is estimated that around 10 000 tons — 22 million pounds — of plastic enters the water every year and concentrations of plastic in the surface waters are similar to those found in the oceans.” Plastic Pollution in the Great Lakes, by Matthew J. Hoffman (Rochester Institute of Technology, 2019)
18 photoED
JOHN HEALEY
PLASTIC BEACH GROWING UP and being active along the St. Lawrence River gave me a deep appreciation for the St. Lawrence Seaway. Exploration of the many islands and seemingly endless shoreline filled my days and taught me the basic truth that all of us are interconnected with nature. Everything is everything, and by polluting this world we pollute ourselves. The corruption of the waterway became abhorrent and shortsighted in my mind.
The idea for the Plastic Beach series came after a backwoods camping trip into Lake Superior Provincial Park in 2018. There I was struck by the amount of plastic I found on the shoreline at this remote site. Normally I would collect the trash and deposit it in the first garbage can I came across, but this time I took it home and examined everything, trying to understand what it was, who threw it away, and why it was there in the first place. I looked for evidence of branding, clues of manufacturing dates, and the extent of deterioration of each item. After further research, I developed a strategy to collect items from other locations along the entire St. Lawrence Seaway to show exactly what plastic is polluting the waterway. Lighting and macrophotography techniques were used to re-imagine and glorify each item. These images of discarded shopping bags, fragments of milk jugs, and crushed bottle caps, among other things, are reanimated to show us the carelessness with which we treat this habitat that is home to millions of creatures. Undesirable items are set in a revealing light to deliver an ominous message. This trickery is nothing new. Master artists such as Ansel Adams, with his iconic landscapes, used beauty to draw attention to environmental issues. Today, photographers such as Edward Burtynsky create stunning images of the industrial complex and warn us of the dawning of the Anthropocene. My Plastic Beach series strives for the same impact but instead of grand vistas or mesmerizing aerial photographs I look to draw attention to the items right under our own feet. johnhealey.ca
photoED 19
VERDANT LUMINUL:
BY MARK WALTON
PURIST ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHERS (and I include myself in this group) have a tendency to be somewhat condescending towards the digital-photo-shooting masses. It’s not a REAL photograph if there’s no film or plates involved. Why would you let some algorithm written by a soulless corporate hack dictate your vision? If you can only see an image on a screen, is it really a photograph? Admittedly, we come across as a bit “holier-than-thou.” But we also harbour some dirty secrets. Analog photography requires an incredibly toxic process that not only wreaks havoc on the environment and our health, but also has socioeconomic and gender barriers. Proud film shooters have guiltily swept this under the carpet... until now.
20 photoED
Fresh prints made using “The Stimulant” hanging in the Lightbox Studio at Arts Commons. “Starland” by Sanja Lukac hangs on the left, “Ajna Chakara” by Francis A. Willey on the right.
photoED 21
BRUCE HILDESHEIM is a polymath. He has played classical bassoon with
the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and the Red Deer Symphony. Now he plays the cello. He is an engineer by trade. He was licensed as a ham radio operator at age 13. He records albums of classical music and produces albums for others. Most importantly to this story, Bruce is an analog photographer. “I started off working in a traditional darkroom and I didn’t understand how toxic the chemicals were. My darkroom wasn’t particularly well ventilated. I thought it was ventilated enough. I was really getting into it the first year and a half and was stoked with the process.” Like countless photographers of the past, Bruce was eventually confronted by the dangers of the process he loved. “I became very sick. It got to the point where I would spend 10 minutes in the darkroom, and I would have a sore throat for days.” The combination of dry mountain air and the high pH liquids used in film and print developing forced a reckoning. “The chemicals include phenidone, hydroquinone, and metol. All these ingredients are not only carcinogenic but also mutagenic. I was horrified. My body was telling me ‘No more!’ I needed to figure out a way to change chemistry or be done with analog photography.” Bruce took these impediments as a challenge. He started researching alternative processes used in photography since its inception. All were as bad or worse when it came to the toxicity of the chemicals they relied on for developing. He knew of Caffenol, a coffee-based developer first used in 1995, but he had never seen any serious printing done with it. “My initial attempts were hugely disappointing because of the amount of fog it produced on the images.” Bruce continued experimenting, and over the next few months he found his solution. 22 photoED
LEFT: “Ready to Launch.” A first print, on fibre-based paper. RIGHT: Restrainer ingredients. A salt water solution.
“ I started off working in a traditional darkroom and I didn’t understand how toxic the chemicals were. My darkroom wasn’t particularly well ventilated... I became very sick. It got to the point where I would spend 10 minutes in the darkroom, and I would have a sore throat for days.”
ENTER FRANCIS A. WILLEY, who
PhotoED readers will remember as the much appropriated creator of the photograph “Blindness.” Francis met Bruce through a mutual friend and they initially connected through their shared love of music. Bruce offered to help Francis record an album, and the two spent many hours together in Bruce’s studio just outside of Calgary. Conversation naturally turned to their other shared passion of photography. Bruce’s experiments resonated with Francis. Francis dubbed the new process Verdant Luminul, or “green light moving forward,” and they began to envision something revolutionary: taking Caffenol, supercharging it, and ultimately creating a system to make analog photography as close to 100-percent ecologically friendly as possible, including taking the process off the grid by using a solar panel to power the enlarger and control water temperature. They began with Bruce’s Caffenol process. First they wanted to conquer the smell. Bruce describes it as “Like burnt coffee mixed with laundry detergent. It’s not harmful, but it’s not pleasant!” He notes, “Most traditional developers don’t have a strong odour, and that’s what makes them seem so harmless. It’s really the ‘fixer’ (ammonium thiosulphate) smell that gets noticed in a traditional darkroom.” They opted to contain the paper in light-safe tubes and attached a hose to them so the solution could pour directly into the drain, creating a dry darkroom. “Using 260 ml of this one-shot developer, you can develop a couple of 8×10’s in a minute and a half. And the solution can just go down the drain. No environmental impact!” Getting rid of the trays created a huge benefit. Suddenly printing could be more democratic. Francis points out, “You don’t need a separate space with trays, a sink, and running water. You can do it in the kitchen of a small apartment! The only space you need is for the enlarger.” Additional experiments with the process led to even more environmental positives. Francis explains, “We went from using ammonium thiosulphate to sodium thiosulphate as a fixer.” Sodium thiosulphate is much less toxic than its ammonia-based counterpart; in fact, it is used to control
“Longing of a Ghost” by Francis A. Willey. VL print on Fibre available at Collectors Gallery of Art. franciswilley.com IG: @neopictoralist
chlorine levels in swimming pools. Because it isn’t as strong, fixing time is marginally increased (90 seconds for resin-coated papers, longer for fibre), and it can be used only on a one-shot basis, but this is offset by the fact that it is readily available at a negligible cost. At this point in time, the only thing they cannot get rid of is the toxic silver on the light-sensitive papers. They hope to offset part of this issue by working with more sustainable paper stock and are experimenting with more ecologically friendly varieties like bamboo. The proof, of course, is in the pudding. It’s one thing for wild-eyed geniuses to extol the virtues of their creation. To be widely accepted, the product had to be not only easy to use but also aesthetically pleasing. photoED 23
PHOTOGRAPHER, PUBLISHER, AND CURATOR SANJA LUKAC had just graduated from a program in
photography at the Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts) when Francis introduced her to the new process. She loved analog process’ but says, “The chemicals created a barrier to me.” She says her lungs were damaged: “They’ve always been sensitive. I would still do traditional chemical developing, but it was very difficult. I had dabbled in other processes but was never really happy with the result.” Verdant Luminul was what she was looking for. “I was blown away by the magic of it. It was like having to learn the darkroom all over again but without having to deal with the effects of the chemicals.” Sanja learned that many female artists had to stop their analog work because the toxicity of the chemistry was not safe for children or pregnancy. “It made my heart sink,” she shares. “This was genuinely unfair. The feminist in me was just not okay with that.” Sanja joined forces with Bruce and Francis and the trio “built an environmentally friendly darkroom” and created a three-month residency program at Art Commons. “We were able to invite the public to engage with us and watch us work. There were a lot of great questions being asked by visitors. The curator in me saw this as a strong resurgence of analog photography. “Experienced darkroom practitioners always ask about the tonal range and ‘getting the blacks.’ Bruce is able to get them beautifully. It’s all about finding your way with the process, just like traditional darkroom printing. I find this process adds a lot of warmth to the work.” Francis agrees, saying, “The tonal range is great. You get deep blacks comparable to chemically processed papers.” Like traditional photographs, prints created with Verdant Luminul are archival and will last for hundreds of years. Bruce commented that “it works really well printing images shot on 400ISO, Ilford HP5 film. It enhances the grain. It works well on fibre paper and has a nice light-beige tone. After fiddling with the chemical proportions, I was able to achieve some really rich blacks. Our prints show plenty of dynamic range.” Sanja was happily surprised by the reaction to the residency and a subsequent exhibit of their work at the SEITIES Gallery in Calgary. “The reaction from photographers after seeing the capabilities of Verdant Luminul was ‘Can I do this process?’ ‘Where do I start?’ ‘When can I start?’” Indeed. The trio began work on a book titled “The Stimulant,” (this name is used interchangeably with Verdant Luminul). Unfortunately, like too many deserving arts projects, their plan stalled. Sanja says, “We applied for 24 photoED
Celebrating Francis’ first dry darkroom for the Verdant Luminul process. 35mm film self -portrait of the Verdant Luminul Three.
several grants. We have testimonials and letters of support from artists who would benefit from this. Still, we hadn’t been able to secure enough funding to develop the book. We’re also all working at capacity most of the time as well, as artists and curators and people and parents. We all have to work in other jobs as well.” Bruce, too, had to deal with capacity issues. He moved back to his hometown of Cambridge, Ontario, to assist his parents. This distance among the group members impacted the project. Bruce admits, “I didn’t realize how difficult it is to collaborate artistically on any project at a distance. As we are seeing (and will see) with lockdowns, there is no substitute for in-person, face-to-face interaction. Francis, Sanja, and I would hang out every few days for photo shoots and darkroom printing sessions. It was easy to keep momentum going. To proceed, we’ll need to figure out a way around this.” Hopes are high as Sanja and Francis are planning a trip to renew the project with Bruce as soon as conditions permit. All three have been boosted by the renewed interest in analog photography and look forward to proceeding with publication of “The Stimulant” in the near future. Francis says, “It’s been ready to go for several years, but there is still room for refinement. We want to offer the original formula and some variations.” In the evolution of photography, Verdant Luminul presents as something of a dichotomy. It’s a throwback to the alternative processes of the past, yet with its moral implications towards democratization, environmentalism, and feminism it belongs equally to the present and future of film photography. According to Sanja, “Every step of the process makes me feel like I’m doing something very right.” Follow along and find out more: DARKCLASSICAL.COM/FILM-PHOTOGRAPHY.HTML
COFFEE FOR FILM KATE ROY is an emerging visual artist with a passion for discovery and examination as key aspects of her work. She utilizes analog film processes and jumps between mediums depending on the message she is conveying. Kate received her photography diploma from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in 2016 and is looking forward to studying for her master of fine arts at the Glasgow School of Art in September 2022. See more of Kate’s work at kateroyphoto.com IG: @k.ate.ro.y
FOR VARIATIONS ON CAFFENOL DEVELOPING, CHECK OUT THESE WEBSITES:
BY KATE ROY
AS A FILM PHOTOGRAPHER, I work with a lot of harsh chemicals. It is difficult feeling passionate about this medium while also being aware that the chemicals involved in my process cause environmental harm. When I discovered Caffenol, I was ecstatic to learn about an eco-friendlier and cost-effective alternative to standard film developing chemicals. Basically, this method involves developing black and white film with instant coffee!
After researching a number of methods online, my first few attempts were admittedly not great. Cutting corners and substituting does NOT work. Attention to detail is key in this process. The three basic ingredients are washing soda, instant coffee, and vitamin C powder. Make sure you read the labels of what you’re buying and that the ingredients are pure: they can’t contain any sugars or other elements. Or, even easier than making your own solution, is contacting our friends at Caffenol Lab (based in Brantford, Ontario)
for their pre-made version, Cawanol developer. Their product was super easy to use and honestly saved me so much time looking for the right pantry ingredients to make this mix myself. Plus, it was super convenient to have the product (and film) delivered straight to my door. All orders of Cawanol from Caffenol Lab come with great, detailed instructions. Although Cawanol replaces traditional film developer, and a stop bath step is not needed, you still require fixer. Fixer can be sourced from either Caffenol Lab or your local friendly photography retailer. I recommend this method to anyone who loves hands-on analog imagemaking. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, developing film in Caffenol couldn’t be any easier, especially on your conscience. Find out more about Caffenol Lab at caffenollab.com and IG: @caffenollab
caffenol.org fieldmag.com/articles/how-to-develop-film-with-coffee-caffenol-guide shootitwithfilm.com/caffenol-film-developing-tutorial/ lomography.com/magazine/225511-evde-film-banyosu-alternatif-1-caffenol-c
photoED 25
At eye level we often can’t see or understand the scope and scale of industrial developments, but with a wider visual of clear-cuts, mining, and pollution, the problem and devastation becomes staggering, and obvious to anyone.
A new logging road carved into the old-growth inland temperate rainforest east of Prince George, BC.
26 photoED
THE AERIAL PERSPECTIVE IN ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOJOURNALISM BY TAYLOR ROADES
JUST OVER A HUNDRED YEARS ago viewing land from the air was something no humans had experienced. Some people may have earned a top-down vantage point by climbing a mountain or a tall tree, but the vast majority of ground dwellers had no idea of the vastness, and variety of life on this planet. A hundred years ago the view from the sky would have incited a sense of awe, but now depending on where you are looking, the view can very well incite a sense of dread.
Aerial photography offers a few unique advantages when covering environmental issues. At eye level we often can’t see or understand the scope and scale of industrial developments, but with a wider visual of clear-cuts, mining, and pollution, the problem and devastation becomes staggering, and obvious to anyone.
photoED 27
LEFT: Stretch of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. RIGHT: Suburban sprawl on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa.
Individually we might be able to see a tree cut down in front of us, but from that vantage point it is hard to comprehend the impact of logging a whole forest. The images we use to define climate change shape the way it is understood and acted upon. Climate change is a global emergency. In October 2019 The Guardian, a UK-based newspaper, decided it would no longer publish cliché images of polar bears and melting ice to describe the climate emergency we are experiencing. Instead, the publication turned its lens on humans and human impacts. Not many people globally will ever see a polar bear, but everyone will experience the effects of climate change. As a photographer documenting the impact of resource extraction and the natural world near my home in Victoria, B.C., I’ve turned my attention to the skies to capture human impact on a grander scale than what’s possible to view at eye level.
28 photoED
The first editorial assignment I that flew a drone for covered the rapid destruction of the Inland Temperate Rainforest in and around Prince George. This rainforest, which the BC Government in its promotional material describes as a “rare and hidden treasure,” is being clear-cut. On the first day of this assignment, I was taken to the end of a forest service road to a patch of primary forest. Primary forest is often known as “old growth”; it is forest that has never been logged. Old forests hold more biodiversity and carbon in their soil than forests that are re-planted after logging and are incredibly important to keeping carbon in the ground rather than the atmosphere. The forest we were looking at was slated for logging and an extension of the road we were on was being built into it. From the ground, trees were turned over and the forest floor ripped up, and that was only half of the picture. From an aerial perspective, the destruction went on for kilometres, like an artery to the heart of the forest. It was
immediately apparent what was going to happen to the rest of the trees along the path. Last year I used a drone to take photographs of First Nation Guardians patrolling their land near the BC and Yukon border. These aerial photos were instrumental in detecting a small smouldering forest fire. I showed the photos to my team and they pointed to a small plume of smoke in the upper right of a frame. We investigated that area and discovered that the forest floor was ash. We spent an hour hauling water from the river to put out a fire. We determined that careless local hunters who hadn’t fully put out their campfire caused the fire. Thankfully it hadn’t spread too far. Drone photography has steadily gained popularity. In June 2018, Canada made it easier than ever before to obtain a licence. People now need to complete a quiz online to gain basic operating privileges. Simultaneously, DJI, the world’s
most prominent manufacturer of consumerlevel drones have made incredible leaps in the quality of footage you can achieve with a modest investment in equipment. I myself own the Mavic Pro 2 - it has a 1-inch CMOS sensor, and a 28mm lens. It connects to my phone and I can pilot the drone while simultaneously, manually controlling the camera from the ground. Photography has the power to change minds and shape actions. The aerial perspective in photography adds an additional layer. The ability to bear witness to the changing landscape (which scientists have been telling us about for years) and publicly reporting what is happening is more important than ever. In 2021 there is still time to change policy, industry, and our individual behaviours. We simply must, or face irreversible consequences. See more of Taylor’s work at taylorroades.com IG: @taylorroades
photoED 29
LOOK
NOT BACKWARDS 30 photoED
FORWARD
A Q&A WITH
NICK HAWKINS CONSERVATION PHOTOGRAPHER
NICK HAWKINS is a photojournalist and 2020 National Geographic Explorer based in Eastern Canada. A biologist by training, he has worked around the world producing stories for major magazines and news outlets that focus on science, conservation, and natural history. We wanted to find out more about his work and why he loves what he does.
photoED 31
W
hat is it about creating stories through photography that you love? Photography has allowed me to satisfy my constant sense of curiosity. It’s a form of expression and a way for me to explore the world around me in a way that feels purposeful. Making a portfolio of images that represents an issue or ecosystem requires looking at it from all angles. I’m always exploring new places, meeting new people, and learning new things. I also get to help to amplify amazing work being done by community members, scientists, and conservationists around the globe. Whose work has influenced yours? There are too many photographers that have influenced me to single out only a few. I am a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), a group of leading wildlife, nature, and culture photographers who have each demonstrated a deep commitment
32 photoED
to conservation efforts around the globe. The impressive community of photographers that make up iLCP have been a major influence and source of support over the years. Anyone interested in conservation photography should look towards the iLCP membership for inspiration. What do you want your photographs to say, and how do you go about delivering that message through your work? I want my photographs to, at the very least, show people something they haven’t seen before, whether that is a species or ecosystem in their own backyard, or a larger environmental issue that they weren’t aware of. We live in a time when nearly every living system is in decline. Decisions are being made that will impact future generations for centuries to come. I hope my work serves to represent the non-human lives we share our planet with so that the public can be fully aware of what’s at stake. I try to strike a balance
LEFT: A lion’s mane jellyfish drifts in the currents along the Nova Scotia Eastern Shore. RIGHT: Wolverine, a North Atlantic right whale, was known by scientists by the three long scars incised on his back by a boat’s propeller. Since that first ship encounter when he was a calf, Wolverine survived three known entanglements in fishing gear. In June 2019 his body was found floating in the Gulf of St Lawrence. Towed from sea, then pulled ashore, he here awaits necropsy on Miscou Island, NB. There are around 400 North Atlantic right whales remaining, and they’re dying by ship strike and fishing gear entanglement faster than they can reproduce. Wolverine’s body will provide researchers with abundant data vital for protecting remaining right whales.
photoED 33
34 photoED
“ My ultimate goal, whether through photography or film, is to bring unique stories of the natural world to audiences worldwide while promoting the conservation of the species and ecosystems upon which we all rely.” between showing the beauty of the natural world and making impactful images that demonstrate the harm and suffering our actions can inflict. What makes a good photograph? A good photograph makes you feel. Light and composition are important, but a photograph should evoke an emotional response. You won’t get there with every image — some are just fillers taken to make a point — but the images that do, will stand out. What advice would you give an aspiring Canadian photographer? Photography is an increasingly challenging space. Popular culture seems to hold a sort of enduring nostalgia for what a photographer represented in the past. My advice to aspiring photographers is to reject this. Look forward, not backwards. The photographers of the future will be masters of many forms of media and use them to craft unique careers through innovative ways of storytelling. How has working in photography influenced you personally? There was a time in my life when I thought I knew a lot. I guess you could say I saw the world in black and white. Photography has brought me into contact with so many different people and perspectives that I’ve come to realize that the ways of seeing the world are infinite — that there is no easy answer to anything. At first it was a paralyzing realization, but slowly I am becoming more comfortable experiencing the world as it truly is, in all of its many colours and complexities.
A North American beaver swims under the ice in Quebec. Ecologists call beavers “ecosystem engineers” because these animals physically alter habitats by cutting down trees, building dams, digging canals and building lodges. They are important creators of new freshwater habitats.
What has been your favourite or most personally impactful project to work on? My work with North Atlantic right whales has been most rewarding to me, and also the most challenging. It has allowed me to work in my own backyard and reconnect to places where I grew up and still feel a sense of place. The images didn’t come easily, but to see them gain a life of their
photoED 35
TOP: Don McAlpine, curator of zoology at the New Brunswick Museum, stands with bags containing over 7,000 dead songbirds killed at the Canaport LNG facility. Canaport pleaded guilty to federal charges under the Migratory Birds and Species at Risk Act and was fined $750,000. in relation to the 2013 deaths.
own and be used to advocate for the conservation of a critically endangered species has been so encouraging. The situation — and images — are disheartening, but it is in this story that I see hope. We can save the right whale. It comes down to a decision between living with the natural world and continuing down a path of destruction that will ultimately lead to our own demise. I have hope that humanity will step up to the challenge and choose to prioritize the other inhabitants of our planet. Our species depends on it. Do you primarily initiate projects or do organizations come to you? It’s a mix of both. More recently I have had the freedom to really dig into particular issues and follow my own personal interests and what I care about most. I’ve never been very good at following direction and tend to wander off towards whatever grabs my attention. I prefer to begin a project independently so I can have time to see how it comes to life, and then find the best outlet to share it. There is certainly a huge amount of time that gets put into preparing for a project or a shoot. I would say I still spend more time in front of a computer screen than I do behind a camera. The good thing is that the more time you put into preparation, the more productive and enjoyable your time making images will be.
36 photoED
LEFT: 7,352 songbirds were collected and kept in freezers at the New Brunswick Museum. They were catalogued, identified, and coded for the extent of their injuries, a process that took a nearly two months to complete.
photoED 37
Any photography or adventure disaster stories you can share? Any great shots by happy accident? Thankfully, I’ve never had any major accidents while working in the field. I’ve worked with a lot of animals that the public would consider dangerous but have never had any negative encounters. By far the most dangerous part of my job is getting to and from shooting locations while navigating the chaotic and unpredictable nature of the human world. A lot of the work I’m involved in now requires large amounts of time in the field. It’s day after day of repetition until all the elements come together. When you put that kind of time in, nothing really happens by accident. That doesn’t mean I’m not hoping for happy accidents in the future though! What photography projects can we look forward to seeing from you in the near future? I look forward to covering stories closer to home and revisiting familiar places from my childhood. Atlantic Canada is really an incredible place that has been underrepresented in popular media and I hope to shine a light on this region more in the coming years. TTP-PhotoED-Magazine-half-page-fall-2021.pdf
1
6/14/21
Ocean sunfish (Mola mola) off Halifax, Nova Scotia.
See more of Nick’s work at nickhawkinsphotography.com IG: @nickhawkinsphotography 3:05 PM
THE WORLD IS WAITING
Get outside with the complete line of Think Tank camera bags and accessories
www.thinktankphoto.ca
BackLight Elite 45L Photo Credit: Dan Carr
The real pros of reuse. These guys were total experts at taking vintage cast-offs and making them cool. Know where else you find the real pros of reuse? The Photographic Historical Society of Canada, of course. Our Trunk Sales are always ready to explode with incredible bargains in pre-owned camera equipment once COVID restrictions ease. Keep checking our website for dates, times and details.
www.phsc.ca
ROCIO GRAHAM
FOREST MIRACLES
40 photo ED
“Book II,” From the Illuminations and Engulfment series, 2020. photo ED 41
42 photoED
A COLD, STORMY DAY AND A DARK SKY
fuelled my disappointment, as I had hoped to see a real estate listing in the beautiful British Columbian mountains in sunlight. As the realtor, my spouse, and I drove closer to the location, the sky cleared. I got out of the car and left the realtor speaking to my spouse at the entrance of the house. Instead of going inside, I walked into the forest. Since I joined the Graham family, this part of Canada has been my second home. I have studied this landscape for 17 years with the same attention to
detail that my Mexican ancestors studied the night sky with. I learned the angles of the celestial entities and how they cast their light and shadows on this Syilx ancestral land. I walked to the creek, passing a hollow cedar covered in moss and lichen. The misty air kissed my skin. I wanted to photograph myself inside this tree. I shivered as I visualized a photograph to add to the Forest and Illuminations photographic series that I started in 2020. I was not sure that I could fit inside
LEFT: “Book I.” ABOVE: “Book VII,” from the Illuminations and Engulfment series, 2020.
photoED 43
the tree but I was determined to find a way. The image in my head was like an apparition. My heart expanded. I walked up and down the hill introducing myself to the land. I asked for permission to make this place my home. I publicly acknowledge that I talk to trees and forest entities. I spent my formative years in Mexico, a country that celebrates the departed as one of the most festive celebrations of the year. I listened to my abuela talk to the spirits (animas) regularly, fixing body and heart maladies with herbs and chants. I read magic realism books by Juan Rulfo and Laura Esquivel, and regularly took part in the traditional Botoboli huecapo kateka (“Song of the Deer”) ceremonies of the Cahitas and Yoremes in Tehueco. At the same time, I watched my mother shift towards Catholicism. The smell of beeswax candles, marigolds, and incense are seared in my memory. I grew up surrounded by gold gilded saints, images of the Virgin Mary, and incense mixed with copal, egg cleanses, and eclipse amulets. It is no wonder that my art practice became a colourful mash-up of botanical knowledge, visions, and animal legends: a constant search for the magical, the holy, and the mystic in everything around me. A mix of miracles and enchantments all in one, like a multivitamin.
I walked back to the house where my husband and the realtor were waiting. I perched myself at the edge of a rock and looked at the Christina Lake afternoon sun warming the Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Ponderosa pines (Pinus Ponderosa), and cedars (Cedrus) below by the creek. The sweet smell of tree honey warmed in the sun. In that that moment, I felt at home. I turned to the realtor and said, “This is it!” She nodded and smiled, asking, “Are you ready to see the house?” We laughed. I responded, “Does it have a kitchen and a bathroom? That is all that we need!” We laughed again. My husband looked at me in agreement. We both knew. The following days became a blur of reviewing legal permits, natural resource designations, and covenant requirements involving the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development to learn more about this place. For me, this work is just a formality. My DNA sensed the call of home. Prior to seeing this house and land, my husband and I have lived in Alberta for the last 9 years. I feel guilty moving, as though I’m abandoning Alberta during an uproar resulting from the provincial government announcing the sale of provincial parks in hopes of balancing government budgets. As well-meaning
A diverse community of critical thinkers driven by curiosity and inspired by imagination AUArts.ca @AlbertaUArts
Rocio Graham BDes ’17, Photography / BOOK V, from series Illuminations and Engulfment
Sanja Lukač BDes ’10, Photography / Capture 35mm
“Book VIII,” from the Illuminations and Engulfment series, 2020.
citizens rallied MLAs with letter-writing campaigns asking for the forest sales to stop, I wondered if it would be possible for nature-loving citizens to pool their resources to buy the parks. Could we not save the forests? Actually, we would be saving ourselves. The forest doesn’t need us. We need the forest. Sleepless weeks and a lot of debt later, my family and I are now the proud owners of 34 acres of forest. Correction: we can’t own a forest. The forest is a free entity that belongs only to itself. We became the legal guardians and stewards of this land, forest, creek, sentinels, moss, and all. If developers come for the lake and the sun, at least these 34 acres will be saved. Open to mystical cues in this place, I am aware that the road where this land has been settled has a Spanish name, Santa Rosa (“Saint Rose”). The fact that many often call me “Rosy” and that I wear only rose perfume prompted me to dig deeper. Research revealed that the first Saint Rose of Italy was a secluded nun who, upon retirement, lived the rest of her days inside a tree. Voila! My answer! Saint Rose inside the hollow tree was not an idea but an apparition. This signal confirmed my connection to this land and to the holiness of this place. My art practice has evolved into a colourful mash-up of botanical
wearable sculpture and performances inspired by my childhood memories, filled with religious iconography, both pre- and postSpanish colonization, I’m excited to embrace this place that is bursting with new teachings and messages. I feel this place needs more nature-loving artists to visit it and learn its language. Who better to translate these teachings to the world than artists? We have decided to create a place for artists, for ideas, for education and community called the Santa Rosa Arts and Healing. Still figuring out how it will all work, my family and I are planning to build guest rooms and an art studio. My hope is to turn Santa Rosa into a retreat, art residency, school, and research place for future generations. The forest has worked its miracles on me. I came to the edge of the boreal forest at the beginning of the first COVID-19 lockdown broken, uncertain, and fearful for the post-pandemic future, but now the roots of my soul are solidly planted where they belong. The medicine of the forest seeped into my heart like spring mist seeps into moss, making me glow with the spirit of life. See more of Rocio’s work at rociograhamstudio.com IG: @rociograham and check out Santa Rosa Arts and Healing, IG: @santa.rosa.arts.and.healing photoED 45
46 photoED
ANNIE BRIARD
IN POSSIBLE LANDS BY KATHERINE DENNIS In Possible Lands (2020) pairs superimposed photographs of the landscape—one captured 45 years ago by the artist’s father, and the other a present-day image taken by Annie Briard—that together evoke a sense of wonder with their vivid colours and majestic yet familiar subjects. But examined up close, they reveal a world altered by human action. On repeated long-haul hikes across Western Canada and the United States, the artist has been documenting a rapidly changing environment where, trip to trip, the evidence of climate change has become impossible to overlook. Briard was struck by the connections she saw between these photographs and an archive of slides her father took years earlier, as he traveled from Quebec to British Columbia while studying geology. Each image of In Possible Lands compresses the time gap between these two sources. By looking at the changing landscape, the artist meditates on these visible as well as unseen human impacts. The resulting photographic works offer us a medium to see into the future, asking: How do we read the past and understand the present to make predictions about what is to come? Due to the current global health crisis, many people have been forced to slow down and stay close to home. As a result, our land use, among myriad other things, has changed swiftly. In only one short month, we saw (temporary?) measurable reductions in air pollution. Our relationship to landscapes nearby—accessible through daily walks around parks such as Lafarge Lake in photoED 47
Coquitlam where this work was exhibited - as well as to faraway places, now visible only through digital technology, have been dramatically altered in a way so few people foresaw. In this stark reality, Briard’s artwork resonates as a reminder that the environment we too easily take for granted can be viewed anew. Annie Briard’s work challenges how we make sense of the world through visual perception. Creating lens-based and light-focused works, she explores the intersections between perception paradigms in psychology, neuroscience and existentialism.
48 photoED
This text was originally written for the Art Gallery at Evergreen, Coquitlam, where In Possible Lands was presented as a public art installation in 2020. In Possible Lands was also presented at Monica Reyes Gallery in Vancouver and at Art Souterrain in Montreal.
Installation at Art Souterrain festival 2021 in Montreal.
Briard holds a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal, and an MFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, where she currently teaches. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
ANNIEBRIARD.COM
THE GALLERY SUBMISSIONS BY OUR READERS
CRYSTAL DREW Fredericton, NB
“I photographed this series as part of a study on still life photography. It got me thinking about how we use things like cut flowers to decorate our homes. Without us and our man made structures in the way, there would be more plant life. After we are gone, nature will always take over.”
BY A DYING S WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL SKWARNA COPYRIGHT 2021
54 photoED
SEA History has not been kind to this tiny former resort town. At 223 feet below sea level, it is the lowest community in the United States and one of the poorest. Over the last fifty years there have been many lows and not much else. Where did the highs of the 1950s go? The answer lies within the Salton Sea. Without this largest accidental lake, Bombay Beach wouldn’t exist today. The Salton Sea was created in 1905 by the engineers of the California Development Company to provide water to the Imperial Valley for farming. They dug an irrigation canal from the Colorado River (this area of the Sonoran is also known as the Colorado desert) to the Old Alamo River. When heavy silt build up slowed the water flow down, the engineers made a series of cuts in the bank of the Colorado River. These cuts sent an overwhelming amount of water flowing into the Salton Basin for two whole years (at that point, a dry lakebed) before repairs put an end to the flood. The result was the creation of the Salton Sea, California’s largest lake. It was fed by a combination of rain (limited effect in the desert), irrigation runoff from nearby farms, and outflow from the New and Alamo rivers (both highly polluted). Mid-century Bombay Beach boomed. Its sandy beaches and warm water attracted families during the 1950s and 60s. Celebrities like Rock Hudson water skied and Frank Sinatra and Jerry Lewis yachted with friends. Lured by the flocking masses, hotels, motels, casinos, yacht and golf clubs were established along the shoreline on both sides. By the late 1970s, however, the Salton ecosystem was in serious trouble. Lacking outflow, sufficient annual rainfall, and full off toxic farm runoff, the sea was packed with pesticides and saltier than the Pacific Ocean. photoED 55
56 photoED
photoED 57
58 photoED
photoED 59
60 photoED
photoED 61
62 photoED
Evaporation increased the salinity of the water, killing millions of fish and birds (avian cholera). Algae blooms sucked the oxygen right out of the water. Tilapia shrivelled and bleached under the relentless sun until the beach was a mass of white fish skeletons. No one wants to visit an apocalyptic ghost town for a day at the beach. Except, perhaps, for grief tourists day-tripping from Los Angeles or artists who like the many abandoned properties. As soon as the Salton sea grew sick, tourists stayed away. The beachfront economy collapsed and locals left. Now as it grows sicker, it threatens the health of the locals who have nowhere to go. Slowly the Bombay Beach Biennale is bringing outsiders to Bombay Beach, but this also creates conflict with locals who just want to be left alone. Salton mud contains arsenic, selenium, chromium, zinc, lead, and DDT. As the sea evaporates and recedes, it exposes thousands of photoED 63
64 photoED
acres of toxic sediment to hot, dry winds. There’s no way to remove these toxic chemicals. The most plausible solution is to make sure they can’t travel beyond the confines of the lake itself by limiting future evaporation and shore recession. Until recently, lake levels have been fed by Colorado River water under a 2003 agreement between the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and the San Diego County Water Authority. This would purportedly give the state enough time to develop and fund wetlands to moisten the exposed lake bed and build a sustainable ecosystem to attract and support birds migrating along the Pacific flyway. After fifteen years, the water mitigation agreement ended in 2018 without any wetland progress whatsoever. The Salton Sea is a political and environmental afterthought. Politicians and lawmakers have avoided remediation programs for decades. Simply put, it’s a poor, underpopulated desert wasteland too far from more politically significant urban centres like San Diego and Los Angeles. Sadly, there is little political will to protect this area from the looming environmental and public health disaster that is clearly imminent.
danielskwarna.com photoED 65
IN HIS OWN WORDS...
66 photoED
DAVID NADEAU THE MANAGEMENT “ My series, “The Management,” evokes the complexities of the Canadian governments’ control over natural phenomena as a means of maintaining the smooth functioning of our capitalistic society amidst the consequences of climate change. I am interested in how cities such as Montreal adapted to Canada’s warmer climate (which resulted in less snow cover and more ice on roads) by increasing their use of salt to melt ice on roadways. To illustrate the damage caused by these chemical salts, I have experimented with light-sensitive paper to create a series of darkroom prints. I soaked photosensitive paper into mixtures of brine and rust that I created using commercially available deicing salts as well as oxidizing metals that came into repeated contact with the salts. Once soaked in broad daylight, the sheets were left to dry and were later developed as regular black and white or RA-4 colour prints. Close examination of the prints reveals the traces of sedimentation and corrosion that chemically altered the paper. Without clear limits that define how humans can intervene with nature, the choices we make are blurry and it is unclear whether, for example, the environmental impact of de-icing salt counterweighs the resulting improvements to human safety. I want these works to embody the tension of the choice to benefit humans over maintaining natural ecosystems.” davidnadeau.cargo.site
photoED 67
68 photoED
photoED 69
BOB ST-CYR Abbotsford, BC
LUMEN LUMINOSITIES ART & THE BEAUTY OF OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT “I was exploring the notion of art and ecology which became part of an article published in the British Columbia Art Teachers Journal. I enjoyed the process of making lumen prints so much that I continued on with the process.
digital post-processing.
The images here are part of a hybrid process whereby I make the images with this analog process and then manipulate the colours through
IG: @foto.bob
70 photoED
The four piece fern image was processed in a photographic fixer, which gave more permanence to the images, but also took away the colours.”
See more + find HOW to get started yourself creating your own lovely lumens: photoed.ca/post/lovely-lumens
photoED 71
THU HO Moncton, NB
“ By reviving the vegetables we eat daily at home with their roots instead of throwing them away, then taking photos of their new life, I want to highlight the relationship between the terms “Green” and “Sustainable.” “Green” is concerned with environmental health while “Sustainable” is concerned with environmenta health, economic vitality, and social benefits. W need both to ensure social justice.” IG: @thuho_fineart 72 photoED
m
al We
photoED 73
GURUDAYAL KHALSA Vancouver, BC
“ sub·sist: to have or acquire the necessities of life, especially: to nourish oneself. The average age of the Canadian farmer is 55, and many are without a succession plan. Throughout the world over 50% of farms are run on land of 5 acres or less, but here the average size of a farm is over 800 acres. As many of us are increasingly disconnected from our local food systems, there has been a recent rise in young people becoming interested in gardening and farming - in search of a deeper connection to the land, its stewards, and our primary form of nourishment, food. In the past few years, through visiting and working on small community farms in southwestern British Columbia, I was inspired by the young 74 photoED
photoED 75
76 photoED
people I met, and became one of these people on a search. In witnessing this selfreliance and close-ness to the production of the food we consume, I saw a bounty of fulfillment, wonder, and aliveness, and these photographs point to a part of the world I hold dear. There is a grit and gratitude to be found in connecting with the cycles of life and the source of the food we often take for granted.” IG: @gurudayalkhalsa
photoED 77
78 photoED
FELIPE JASSO Calgary, AB
“ In 2020 some parts of Mexico did not have a single drop of rain for eight months in a row. This water crisis not only affects locals, but farmers from these communities have taken the drastic decision to illegally immigrate to the USA to work for large agriculture companies. These companies often pay very low wages and also don’t offer any type of health or social insurance. The impact of this climate issue is already affecting what people put on their plates in Mexico, USA and Canada, as these countries consume most of what Mexico produces. To make things more complicated, the north of Mexico faces increasingly stronger winter storms where there were none before. It is hard to understand the serious issues that farmers in Mexico face, and why the government is not willing to address these issues with the force that is necessary. By the time people find out they cannot get food in the grocery stores, it will already be too late.” IG: @felipejassophotos
photoED 79
80 photoED
CONAN STARK Waterloo, ON
“ My series of photos details my experiences hiking the West Highland Way in Scotland, and tree planting in Northern Ontario in 1997. The series culminates with an image I took of a coke bottle filled with earth that I collected while tree planting and have kept all these years. The photos from 24 years ago form a narrative unified by the common theme of the natural world and how we have modified it through deforestation. I was initially embarrassed that I left the date stamp setting on my camera but actually like how it sets those photos in a particular era. Spending much of the spring and summer of 1997 travelling and sleeping outside, forced me to intimately think about the landscapes of Scotland and Ontario. Their beautiful vast horizons and the dramatic impacts of deforestation left an indelible mark. _____ I flew out of Toronto Pearson airport on a very icy March 20th, 1997 and landed in Glasgow, Scotland with spring in full bloom. On my first day, I met a traveler at a pub who had just completed The West Highland Way. Hearing his stories, I committed to doing the hike, which I admittedly never heard of before his recount. _____ On May 7th, 1997 I flew to Timmins, Ontario to start a tree planting job. This job was much harder than I anticipated. I took fewer pictures than I intended as the work was all consuming and my camera was in poor condition. Near the end of the planting season I collected and filled a coke bottle with some earth. I returned home on June 23rd feeling tired, very happy to see my bed and very much looking forward to developing the rolls of film I had shot while in Scotland and Northern Ontario.” IG: @starkconan photoED 81
JAOSHA BUREY-MOORE Toronto, ON
“ We should be careful in our habits. There aren’t as many bees left because of our careless ways. What we do has a big impact around us.” IG: @club.redranger 82 photoED
SHAYNA CANFIELD Toronto, ON
“A self-portrait expressing, my love for photography, my struggle with expressing my art while in lockdown, and the beauty of nature in flowers.” www.shotbyshayna.com
ALISHCIA BADIA ON
“ This photo shows how you can incorporate a bit of greenery and a window as a source of light to highlight a subject” IG: @aliangelphotography Model- Veronica Peters @veronicapeters_
ALAN MCCORD Halton Hills, ON
Urban Sprawl - The changing spacial arrangements associated with demand for land tied to the growth of the urban envelope in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). We are seeing things like townhomes, quarries, twinning of power lines, and cemeteries occupying spaces that were once allocated to farms and food. IG: @abraidmirabiliapanasthesia
ALAN MCCORD Halton Hills, ON
Urban Sprawl - The changing spacial arrangements associated with demand for land tied to the growth of the urban envelope in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). We are seeing things like townhomes, quarries, twinning of power lines, and cemeteries occupying spaces that were once allocated to farms and food. IG: @abraidmirabiliapanasthesia 86 photoED
photoED 87
88 photoED
MARK ESSNER Waterloo, ON
“A few years ago, near Chatham Ontario I stumbled across a place that was both intriguing and horrifying. To get there, I crossed a disused railway bridge across a river and followed the tracks into a wooded area. Through a gap in the trees, I saw a gathering of large transport truck trailers. They had been there for a very long time based on their condition, with the wood rotting away, years of spray-painted embellishment, and evidence of arson. In the back of the decrepit trailers were stacks of large 60-gallon steel drums which previously, (and possibly still), contained chemicals. The rusted containers, some of which were burst open, were strewn around the interiors and also on the ground around the trailers. Interestingly, there was no obvious means for them to have been driven into this area. No roads or drivable paths lead to where the trailers were left. Clearly this is how a company decided to dispose of their chemical stores, but it appears to have happened decades ago. Wandering deeper into the woods, I found large pieces of equipment sporadically throughout the area. There are no buildings to be seen, but piles of broken up concrete and bricks are left as apparent remnants of past structures. A series of concrete columns grouped together, with the remains of past fires in the centre, appear as if they had been used as an altar. I start to realize that at some point there was likely a manufacturing or processing facility in what is now a gloomy forest of surprises, the most unlikely one yet to reveal itself. Deeper in my journey through the forest, I make my way down a makeshift path. Rounding a corner, a large, rusted metal hulk came into view. As I got closer, I realized it was a ship. In the forest, there was an actual ship sitting amongst the trees. It was more of a barge/dredging/tug type of craft, but a large vessel, nonetheless. Something that one does not typically find in a forest. It was sitting high and dry with no obvious water path leading to it, a decaying propeller hanging in the air. After I left, and the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. The fact that a company, and of course people, decided to do something so detrimental to the community’s environmental wellbeing was hard to see. It led to making return trips, the most recent being in May 2021 when these images were shot.
photoED 89
90 photoED
Walking into the trailer area a few years later, I noticed the land looked different. Areas that were previously relatively flat were now a series of humps, almost like a motocross track. Upon closer examination I could see why. Countless steel chemical drums, like the ones in the trailers, had been buried in the earth. Over the years, the land eroding away was starting to reveal the full extent of their irresponsibility. In addition to what had been obvious, more and more evidence of deliberate wrongdoing was unveiled. Subsequent visits to the landlocked ship revealed a higher water line, coming closer to the vessel’s stern, taking away some of the mystery of how it got there, but not the why. Not far from there I also found where drainage pipes that had led from huge vats in the former facility, travelled underground and came out of the side of a bank. This would have been disgorging whatever the runoff or waste that flowed through them directly into a small inlet that came in from the nearby Thames river. Over time, I began to take note of a lack of animal life. I didn’t see any animals at all. Not even a squirrel. I didn’t notice much in the way of insect activity either. In fact, if it were not for the occasional passing bird landing in a treetop, I don’t think I would have seen another living being in the area. I find it shocking that such a place exists with no apparent steps being taken to rectify this environmental waste disaster.” IG: @CavendishSights www.frommyeyetoyours.com
photoED 91
92 photoED
CB CAMPBELL Thunder Bay, ON
“ It is easy to see a tree or plant or animal without appreciating the web of complexity that ecosystems represent. I am captivated by the way a photo can be simple but can demonstrate the complexity of the whole.” IG: @Cbcampbell99 photoED 93
94 photoED
BRIAN LAVERY Port Alberni, BC
“ Thinking of ecological issues in my neighbourhood, I could have taken photographs of acres of stumps or decaying industrial sites but that has all been done many times before. Recycling is an issue, literally, closer to home. We collect paper, flatten boxes and rinse cans and plastic containers. On Wednesdays, every two weeks, I take our blue bins to the curb between six and seven in the morning. The streets are empty at this hour but you can see that a few of my neighbours have been out before me. While not a busy street, you don’t have to wait long to see people walking dogs, cyclists, joggers or parents and children going to and from the school a block away. These photographs were taken between February and May of this year, so they record the changing light and weather early in the morning. The images record a small part of the journey for these packaging materials.” www.brianlavery.ca
photoED 95
SAYANTH AN Toronto, ON
“ I live by the simple p happens for a reaso be a perfect examp that can only be see second. I display the world in hope to find present a new persp
IG: @s.a__creation 96 photoED
TIFFANY DOUGLAS Nanaimo, BC
“I have just moved to Nanaimo from Southern Alberta and want to connect to the land through nature. I have been exploring the natural surroundings in my new neighbourhood through foraging. I love learning about the flora and fauna species and find I am able to better understand the area through its species.” IG: @createbytiff
NANTHARAJAH
philosophy that everything on and my pictures happen to ple of that. I capture moments en if caught at the exact ese images to the rest of the d people, those whom I can pective of the world to.”
ns_ photoED 97
98 photoED
SHAELYNN TREDENICK Ottawa, ON
“ I feel compelled to scan. The scanner makes me feel more connected to create art than my own camera. I feel creative freedom yet still challenged needing to style dried plants and co-exist with each other. Since I was very young, I watched my mother create her oasis in the backyard every single year. I kept asking myself, why go through the trouble of buying and planting flowers in the garden even though the cold will kill them all? I was never able to keep a plant alive and I still cannot do so. I always forget to give them life. I never understood the connection to flowers as my mother does. Ever since I was given my first dried flower, I got the same feeling my mother has when building her backyard escape. Being able to construct and style the flower my own way and to be able to re-use it to create something different made me love the life form. My ever-growing collection consists of exotic and everyday greenery. I have been given most of my flowers from fellow artist Whitney Lewis-Smith and I also dry my own. The process of watching the life cycle of flourishing and vibrant to shrivel and de-saturated fascinates me. The feeling of watching the brightest light of a flower decay sometimes feels empowering. Controlling a life to be used again and again to create art makes me feel in command of my work. Once I start scanning, I get into a zone of emotions. Concentrating on colour palettes and textures, leading to frustration on pieces that do not want to stay put. Excitement while seeing the scanner move to satisfaction when getting the image in my head right in front of me. I create out of emotions and sensations before thinking of a narrative. I do not make up a story after the images have been produced, I feel as though it is not authentic. Nor do I want to make the viewer feel a specific way. Whoever is observing my body of work should create their own story.” www.shaelynntredenick.com
photoED 99
100 photoED
photoED 101
102 photoED
KEN WHYTOCK Drumbo, ON
“ Our environment and any species in it won’t survive if the capability to reproduce is lost. In this series, shot over several years and locations, I focus on the Robin, a common backyard bird, and its nesting cycle. I want to celebrate the life of a Robin because its success means that the natural world is working. It’s not as exotic as a panda or polar bear, but it’s where we can hold influence - Are we creating safe spaces and environments for the wildlife in our towns and cities?” Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr: @kenwhytock
photoED 103
104 photoED
ALINO GIRALDI Hamilton, ON
“The impact of industrialization on the Hamilton Harbour. ” IG: @alinogiraldi
photoED 105
ALEXANDRE MAVRELLIS OKTAN Toronto, ON
“Everlasting plastics in the ocean.” IG: @alexandre_mavrellis_oktan
106 photoED
ALEXIS BERGASSE Brantford, ON
“I made ‘garbage popsicles’ to reflect the amount of waste consuming our everyday lives but shot it like a summer editorial. Upon closer look you can see the layers of trash in the popsicles - a subtle hint to consumer waste.” IG: @alexisbergasse photoED 107
108 photoED
JEANNETTE BREWARD Port Hope, ON
“My work focuses on the connection that we, as humans, have to all of the natural world around us and our responsibility to protect it. As a species, we have a way of separating or elevating ourselves above the rest of the natural world, despite the fact that we are just as much a part of it as the tree outside our window, or the sparrow that nests there.” IG: @ohnettie photoED 109
110 photoED
JENS GAETHJE Edmonton, AB
“For years I had been travelling the Bighorn Country, east of the National parks along Lake Abraham. I developed a deep appreciation for the area and its natural wonders and strivedto capture and convey its beauty through my photography. This photo of the Cline River has been used to promote the Bighorn Wild-lands conservation efforts. I see my work as a landscape and nature photographer like a connector between humans and nature, using my creativity to raise awareness for the beauty that surrounds us.” IG: @jensgaethjephotography
photoED 111
112 photoED
FARIDA RADY Toronto, ON
“Shot on 35mm film in an area called the Wathba Fossil Dunes in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The fossil dunes are composed of sand which has been permeated with calcium carbonate and been shaped and reshaped by the wind over many decades, if not centuries. Shortly after I visited the fossil dunes, they were vandalized by people who spray painted them. These dunes had gained notoriety on Instagram and were being used in commercial photoshoots. This is an example of the rampant commodification and disrespect of our environment and non-human world.” IG: @farida.archives
photoED 113
FARIDA RADY Toronto, ON
“Shot on 35mm film at the Toronto Islands in Tkaronto, Ontario. I think about this space often and visit it whenever I can - there’s something about the islands that feels otherworldly and escapist that I am drawn to. However, the Toronto Islands have faced serious flood risks for many years, and many of the city’s attempts to address them have been short-term solutions to a longterm systemic issue - climate change. Many think of driftwood as a nuisance, but it’s an important part of waterfront ecosystems as it acts as a shelter for many flora and fauna. It is possible that driftwood inspired early humans to make boats out of fallen trees, as they saw that wood floated on water and could withstand the waves. As a settler, I am still learning about the Indigenous histories, presents, and futures that relate to the Toronto Islands, and I want to work towards decolonization and re-indigenization of that space.” IG: @farida.archives
114 photoED
photoED 115
116 photoED
LIZ LOPEZ Hamilton, ON
“Bringing awareness of the beauty that surrounds us, using a poetic perspective to promote protection of our nature.” IG: @ worldruler007 FB: Ellie Photography photoED 117
118 photoED
BRUCE LOTT
Surrey, BC
“I am a wildlife photographer working in Lower Mainland” Cameralott.com photoED 119