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MORGAN SEARSWILLIAMS BEHIND THE SHOT:
“I work to create a space where we can be vulnerable and peel off our layers of hurt and hardness that we build up. This series focuses on how queer love can transform an individual.”
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IN THIS ISSUE 9
RESOURCES WE LOVE
10 CHRISTINE LOVE HEWITT’S WANDERLUST 14 REPRESENTING WITH DIGNITY A PANEL DISCUSSION MODERATED BY LAURENCE BUTET-ROCH 24 MORGAN SEARS-WILLIAMS’ TRANSFORMATIVE QUEER LOVE AND CARE 26 E ARS, EYES, VOICE: BLACK CANADIAN PHOTOJOURNALISTS 1970s–1990s By Dr. Julie Crooks
30 CHRIS DONOVAN: COMPLICATED MARITIME CLOUDS By Rita Godlevskis 34 PAUL SEESEQUASIS’ INDIGENOUS ARCHIVAL PHOTO PROJECT 38 PATTI GOWER FROM THE FRONT LINES OF PHOTOJOURNALISM TO LEADING THE NEXT GENERATION 42 JAYU - PHOTOGRAPHY + COMMUNITY GOOD By Joshua Cameron 45 READERS GALLERY Submissions by our readers
PHOTO: LUCAS SANKEY
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EDITOR’S NOTE photo by: www.margaretmulligan.com
KEEPING IT REAL NOW, MORE THAN EVER, WE NEED TO FIND WAYS TO CONNECT WITH ONE ANOTHER. Photographs above language are the fastest way to convey information. Images have the power to instantly connect us and help us find compassion, feel empathy, and tell complex stories.
“Photography helps people to see.” — Berenice Abbott
I’m excited not only to showcase a range of diverse Canadian perspectives of the genre in this edition, but also to share some valuable insights on the impact that documentary photography can have, and to talk about the ethics of intention behind the lens. Working ethically is not something that can be seen right away when it comes to creating images, but I believe being ethical should be every photographer’s priority. As always, I hope you enjoy the images and stories in this edition, but I also hope they create conversations that will carry on beyond the pages: discussions about what’s great about these particular Canadian photography stories as well as about
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what other voices and stories we could be celebrating and supporting. This winter, in our next issue, we’re looking forward to sharing photography like you’ve never seen it done before. We can’t wait to showcase work that pushes boundaries, blurs the lines between art and photography, and tests our perceptions of what photography “should” look like. If you’ve got a photography project that takes the medium to a new level, drop us a line! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and sign up for our e-newsletter to keep up!
Your Editor, Rita Godlevskis rita@photoed.ca
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Living near the world’s largest uranium mines is complicated. For residents on the land of the English River First Nation, you are either working for the mines or fighting against them.
Filmed over a full year at the HOpe Centre in North Vancouver, Living in HOpe follows patients and health care providers as they work together on a bold, radically human approach to mental health.
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THE CANADIANS With an introduction by Douglas Coupland Curated by Roger Hargreaves, Jill Offenbeck, and Stefanie Petrilli Hardcover, 2016, 172 pages, $45 The Canadians re-imagines one of the most revered photobooks of the twentieth century, Robert Frank’s The Americans. Sourced from the print archive of The Globe and Mail, these press photographs illustrate Canadian culture during a time of transformation. The book begins with an insightful introduction by Douglas Coupland, bringing together themes illuminated in these images, taking us on a guided tour of a Canada gone but not forgotten. boneidlebooks.com/shop photo ED 9
WANDERLUST
WE ASKED PHOTOGRAPHER CHRISTINE LOVE HEWITT ABOUT HER ADVENTURES
Tell us about yourself.
I grew up in the suburbs outside of Toronto. I was lucky enough to attend a high school that had a great photography program, with darkrooms and a studio. I later attended the Sheridan College photography program. I spent many years after that travelling and working as a photographer, here and there. It feels like it took a long time to find my legs in my work, dabbling in most facets of photography. I was always very interested in documenting the world around me and photography is the best way for me to do that. I really love working with people and gravitate towards environmental portraiture. I love the inbetween moments when photographing people, the almost accidental frames tend to be my favourite images. What are some of your favourite projects you’ve worked on?
I have way too many “projects” on the go. My brain works by dividing all of life up into subject matter waiting to be documented. Often, they never feel complete to me. Landscapes of Our Youth, Portraits of Suburban Southwestern Ontario was a series I started when I moved home from India and back into the suburbs that I was so familiar with as a child. My most rewarding project was done at Thosamling Buddhist Nunnery in northern India. I spent a month living with the nuns, just shadowing their everyday lives. I eventually got comfortable enough to request taking photos in their rooms. They call their rooms “cells” and traditionally laypeople are not supposed to be in them, so it certainly felt like an honour to gain that trust. 10 photo ED
Recently I spent time at a women’s shelter in Guatemala, called Pa’nibal. This was one of the hardest projects for me. I didn’t speak Spanish and was in a house in a small town with women who spoke no English: women from a background that I had a hard time relating to, who had suffered varying degrees of trauma and hardship. I felt really disconnected from them at first. Luckily, photography is a language of its own. The doors of communication slowly opened and trust was built with each photo I took. It helped tremendously that there were children in the house. They communicate in so many ways other than with language. By the time I left, I had forged some really incredible relationships and learned some Spanish. My hope is to go back to photograph a couple of the women that I formed a bond with, at different stages of their lives. The most fun I ever had was working on a project called Bush Babes. It was commissioned by the BC Interior Forestry Museum for a fundraising project. The museum director and I spent weeks driving around bumpy logging roads, camping out, getting eaten alive by mosquitos, and meeting some really fascinating and strong women working as tree planters. My work that has been published the most is a series of Yoga Portraits. They are definitely more in a style of posed portraiture than documentary, but they do document a really important time of my life. I was living in India and was fascinated by the culture of westerners that were there to study yoga. I would take the yoga students out, get them to do yoga poses in public, and watch the whole environment unfold around them. Local women would pop their heads out of doors, kids would
TOP LEFT: From the series - Landscapes of Our Youth, Portraits of Suburban Southwestern Ontario. TOP RIGHT: From the series -Yoga Portraits, Alys Pardoe in Mysore, India. CENTRE: A street stall vendor in Bangkok, Thailand. During a yoga portrait photo shoot, she hopped in front of the camera to show us her moves.
BOTTOM LEFT: From the Bush Babes series. Jodie Klotz, Crew Lead, 20 years planting, Interior British Columbia. BOTTOM RIGHT: From Pa’nibal, a women’s shelter in Guatemala. Antonia nurses her son Daniel in their room.
photo ED 11
Venerable Tenzin Pelza at the alter in her room at the Thosamling Buddhist Nunnery.
flock to be in the photos, shop owners would give us tea, and men would want to show off in front of the camera. The scenes took on a life of their own and all of a sudden it was not a photo of a yoga pose but a glimpse of how a small Indian neighbourhood reacted to the foreign yoga students flooding into their town. What drives you to travel?
Mostly restlessness!
later bought my first camera for me and really supported my college studies. I think the three semesters of high school photography I took had a huge influence. We had a project where we had to take an entire roll of film in the confines of our classroom. It forced my brain to see things in a way that I never knew it could. My teacher that year was Mr. McCarroll-Butler. I have no idea where he is now, but thank you! What are you aiming for when you’re shooting?
What is the best place you have ever been, and why?
India has my heart. For me it is the best place to travel in, for photos, and for food. The people are amazing, always game for having their photos taken. Their culture is incredibly friendly and open. And the colours can’t be beat. What is the worst place you’ve ever been, and why?
Also India! It’s a tough country and can wear you down really quickly. You will always hear people say “you either love it or hate it” but I think it’s both. You kind of love it and hate it all at the same time, and your relationship with it changes vastly the longer you are there. I call it the worst place in the world to be sick or depressed in. It’s just unforgiving. But when you are in a good place mentally and physically, it really is the best! What got you into photography?
My father and grandfather where amateur photographers and some of my most vivid memories are of my family gathered around to watch slideshows on the projector - I can still hear the sound of the carousel clicking. My father gave me his SLR to use in high school classes and 12 photo ED
I want my photos to tell a story, a narrative about an exact moment in time. I also aim for humour, which can be hard to relay in a photograph. What kind of gear do you usually use?
I am always behind the times in terms of technology. I buy used bodies when new models come out. Primarily I use a Canon 5D Mark III with a 24-70mm, and shoot a lot at 24 and 35mm. I also use my phone a fair bit. Who are your photo inspirations?
I love Dianna Lawson. Her portraits are blowing my mind. Really groundbreaking work! I always have a super soft spot for all things Naomi Harris. She makes me adjust my perception and often makes me laugh. I really resonate with the topics she focuses on. Probably my all-time favourite is Mary Ellen Mark. Her images are photographic perfection and her body of work is absurdly commendable. She’s my photo hero. If you could go back 10 years and tell yourself something, what would it be?
Be braver, be bolder, be less lazy. www.christinelovehewitt.com
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THE UNDENIABLE STRANGENESS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: REPRESENTING WITH DIGNITY
PANELISTS AMBER BRACKEN, BÉNÉDICTE DESRUS, ANASTASIA TAYLOR-LIND, ENDIA BEAL, KALI SPITZER, STEPHEN MAYES
MODERATOR LAURENCE BUTET-ROCH
Dignity and photography have long had a tense relationship. More often than not, especially when it comes to documentary and photojournalism, people are pictured at their most vulnerable, when facing tragic circumstances. However, as the photographers involved in this discussion share and demonstrate in their work, respect for those in front of their lens must always be paramount. But what does that mean exactly? How do artists and documentarians honour the dignity of those they are representing? And how can the care put into the act of making a photograph be clearly communicated with the audience?
LBR. What does it mean to photograph a person, or a community with dignity? ATL. To treat someone as you would want to yourself or your
family to be photographed; that is with respect. I think it’s that simple. KS. It implies making someone feel safe. And, in my practice, that
involves collaboration. I’m careful to use language that conveys the idea that we’re making something together, as opposed to this notion of “taking,” especially in the context of Indigenous communities.
EB. Immediately, I think about the act of listening. Before taking
the picture, we will have a conversation where I learn about the desires of the people I’ll be photographing. This allows me to capture their story, and what they’re trying to say as a community more accurately. SM. Anastasia used a really important word: respect. I find it to be
more useful. Dignity is very fraught. For many years, that term has 14 photo ED
been used, to a large extent amongst documentary photographers as a sort of bourgeois self-appeasement, which helps make one feel better about their work. There’s a huge difference between dignity and respect. On one hand, one can photograph a huge number of undignified situations with respect. On the other hand, seeking the dignity of all subjects leads to all sorts of dangerous territories. For example, what does that mean when photographing politicians? Or someone you’re in opposition to? If one adopts the process of conciliation or collaboration as their model, then one has to apply it across the board. AB. Dignity calls for representing people so that they come
across as fully complex human beings rather than trying to fit them into reductive categories. People can be shown in a very difficult part of their life with dignity if we demonstrate that it is just that: a part of their experience, not their whole identity. Plus, a complex portrayal helps break down barriers between “us” and “them,” “viewer” and “subject,” since most people can relate to having one part of their life together, while other things seem to fall apart.
BD. Dignity is our value as a human being. In photography, it
means capturing the subject as a human being, doing it with a lot of respect and intending to give an authentic representation of who they are and where they are at in their life.
ATL. What makes it so difficult for us to talk about dignity, is that
it is hard to define. It means different things to different people. The solution then lies in having a multitude of different voices, perspectives, and sets of eyes looking at issues and communities.
KS. I like the idea of using the word respect over dignity because it
feels more specific: showing cultural respect, having respect for the person in front of the lens, having respect for what you’re doing together. It holds more weight and is easier to comprehend. AB. I also like this idea of striving for respect because it is about
being able to truly see somebody as they are, and respecting that reality. That’s the most fundamental thing we do: we see people. Sharing the experience with others comes later. But first we connect with a person. I don’t think you can respect the reality someone is experiencing if you’re hyper-focused on doing a certain type of representation, whether positive or negative. How Anastasia handled her assignment with the Rohingyas is really beautiful in terms of acknowledging what is going on without farming their agony in a gross way. She found a way to tell these stories with integrity, while respecting the reality of what occurred. It would be a disservice to gloss over what they’d been through. SM. The danger of using dignity as the overriding ethos is that
it also involves dishonesty. There is much in life that is not dignified. If we intend to document life truthfully and honestly, then it necessarily involves a certain amount of undignified representation. That’s where respect becomes so important. LBR. How has your personal understanding of what photographing with respect means evolved over your career? For instance, Anastasia, we’ve talked about those notions in the past, when an article I wrote for the British Journal of Photography about your work on the Rohing yas was initially posted under a heading that was roughly “Photographer Gives Dignity to Refugees.” Readers rightly pointed out that a photographer does not give people dignity, that people have it. Was that a defining moment for you? ATL. It’s also worth pointing out that neither of us titled the
piece and that it was quickly addressed and rectified. Thinking about that specific work, I should first speak candidly and ask: do we really need another white woman from one of the world’s richest countries going to one of the poorest ones and photographing brown women who have been raped? I’m pretty certain the answer is no. That said, it was an assignment from Human Rights Watch for which I am very grateful. I was given an
16 photo ED
unusual amount of freedom. I started by photographing in a very traditional reportage way, showing groups of refugees waiting in paddy fields as they escaped violence in Burma and made it to Bangladesh. As I was doing that, I came to see that I was representing Rohingya women in a different way than I would those from my own community. That realization prompted me to create a makeshift studio and to resort to traditional portrait aesthetics. I felt that was more respectful. AB. I had an epiphany when I was photographing for a prostate
cancer fundraiser very early in my career. The campaign asked photographers to contribute portraits of strength to counter the narrative that prostate cancer was embarrassing and dehumanizing. I ended up being paired with a survivor and made an image where he had a cape on, posing more or less like a superhero. Sure, he looked dignified and powerful, and he liked the picture, but he did tell me that this was not his experience of prostate cancer. I had gone too far in wanting to serve the campaign’s message. I did not initially talk to him about what his experience was, how he felt about prostate cancer, what it was like to have it and survive it. There’s ugliness, and fear, and often undignified moments but I missed all of that. SM. That’s a very telling story.
Dignity is aspirational and might not represent the reality. BD. I’ve learned that trust and
“ PEOPLE CAN BE SHOWN IN A VERY DIFFICULT PART OF THEIR LIFE WITH DIGNITY IF WE DEMONSTRATE THAT IT IS JUST THAT: A PART OF THEIR EXPERIENCE, NOT THEIR WHOLE IDENTITY.”
building relationships are key. When I photographed Donna Simpson – who holds the Guinness World Record for the “Heaviest woman to give birth” – for a personal project on global obesity, I asked her how she would like to be portrayed. We spoke about tolerance, about her experience with emotional abuse, and about how she sees — Amber Bracken her body. I could see some people would say it could be exploitative but it’s not; it was the outcome of an exchange. She’s proud of who she is, what she looks like.
SM. Dignity is contextual. One can behave with dignity, be
photographed with dignity, but then when that image is shown in a different environment, the behaviour is interpreted as undignified. So dignity is not a fixed measure, it shifts.
“ I WGITIS EUMQUIA VIT VELENDI SUM ET, TEM HARCIAE LAM QUAS DUS SIMIL IDEBIT, ULPARIOR RERUMQUI ODIS UT ALIQU”
PAGE 15, TOP: Photo by Amber Bracken. Aimee signs her mother’s memorial, in the place where her body was found, after visiting it for the first time since it had been discovered there in 2012. An aunt who Aimee isn’t on good terms with has her mom’s ashes. Without a grave to visit, Aimee feels disconnected from her mom.
THIS PAGE ,TOP: Photo by Amber Bracken, from the series Standing Rock. People carry an American and a Mohawk Warrior Society flag at a protest camp against the Dakota Access Pipeline, in Cannon Ball, North Dakota. BOTTOM: Tintype photo by Kali Spitzer.
PAGE 15, BOTTOM: Photo by Amber Bracken, from the series Standing Rock. Vonda Long, a descendant of High Hawk, who was killed in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, says she has been fighting for justice her whole life. photo ED 17
LBR. Speaking of how viewers interpret photographs, Bénédicte, you were
recently involved, over social media, in a discussion surrounding a photograph taken in a shelter for elderly sex workers of a woman showering. Some people were wondering whether it was respectful to photograph her in such a situation. BD. I had the opportunity of doing a takeover of the Women
Photograph Instagram account, and thought I would share work from the project: the women of Casa Xochiquetzal. I posted nine images on the feed in total, opening with another portrait of Juanita. However, given the nature of the platform, some people who only saw that one photograph of her, and not the whole, limiting access to the whole context. Many disagreed with how she, a sex worker, was represented showering and questioned my position as a white photographer working with a vulnerable group of people. From there, they unfairly questioned my ethics based on their interpretation of how uncomfortable Juanita felt in front of the camera and assuming that I took that image with only the deliberate intent of furthering my career. I have a deep relationship with Juanita, as well as most of the women, social workers, and the director of the shelter. After taking the image in question, I showed it to Juanita and we discussed it. She fully agreed to having it published in print and on social media platforms. When I told her the comments that it generated online, she said,: “You can’t see nothing in that photo. I’m not even nude,” adding that she liked it and wanted a copy of it. I think there’s a fine line when thinking about representation and dignity. Our job, as photographers, is to show people’s reality honestly without the subject feeling demeaned or degraded. Juanita wasn’t uncomfortable in front of my camera. The image captures her emotions when she forgot my presence. Personally, I think, that’s really moving and telling. LBR. As the discussion unfolded online, I wondered how can a photograph
show the relationship between the photographer and the photographed, the process through which trust was built, or how those involved collaborated? BD. Intimacy is an indicator. You wouldn’t be able to get this close
to someone if you don’t spend time with them, if they don’t trust you. Still, there’s a lot the public will not know. For instance, with this series, I invited a therapist to come once a week, knowing that sharing their story might impact them psychologically. She would spend time talking with the women and conducting therapeutic workshops.
EB. Dignity, respect, or honour can be exuded through a
photograph, but there are limitations to our medium. So, we have to start thinking about other mediums which can assist in filling those gaps. It could be creating an installation, integrating video, audio or text, etc. It is difficult to show everything that went on behind the scenes in a single image. You can only hope, in the
18 photo ED
end, that the people in the photo felt respected in the process. AB. I relate to this comment
EVEN WHEN SOMEBODY ELSE ISN’T DICTATING THE PARAMETERS, I FIND MYSELF UNCONSCIOUSLY THINKING ABOUT WHAT I THINK PEOPLE MIGHT WANT TO SEE.”
about photography being a — Anastasia Taylor-Lind flawed medium. Photojournalism especially has a tendency of being a bit grandiose about what it is or what it can do. Acknowledging the limits of the literal box we’re in is much more honest and opens up the door to making better work. KS. I relate to that as well. When I show the large-scale tintype
portraits of Indigenous, POC, women, queer and non-binary people in galleries, I also include a voice recording of us. Often I feel that we’re neither seen nor heard. Therefore, using both visuals and audio provides visibility and voice. SM. One aspect that I found particularly frustrating over the
years, especially in documentary photography, is that the subjects are predominantly from disenfranchised communities. I believe that happens because they are “easier” to photograph. They’re easy prey. They have no defenses against the media. The middle class, who is hyperaware of the media, is much harder to access. So, we default to the “easier” targets and then use the veneer of dignity as a justification for picking on them. Embedding oneself within a community for any length of time and gaining someone’s trust doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re representing them with dignity. ATL. The opening paragraph of The Journalist and the Murderer
by Janet Malcom, can apply to photojournalism and any act of representation. It goes, “Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people’s vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse. Like the credulous widow who wakes up one day to find the charming young man and all her savings gone, so the consenting subject of a piece of nonfiction writing learns — when the article or book appears — his hard lesson. Journalists justify their treachery in various ways according to their temperaments. The more pompous talk about freedom of speech and ‘the public’s right to know’; the least talented talk about Art; the seemliest murmur about earning a living.” While it doesn’t entirely reflect my opinion on nonfiction storytelling, it’s a damning, but worth considering cynical perception of what I, we, do. AB. The quote that you just read had me wondering how everybody
justifies this practice. There is this undeniable strangeness about
ABOVE, LEFT: Photo by Anastasia Taylor-Lind for Human Right Watch. Rajuma Begum, 20. Rajuma survived the massacre at Tu Lar To Li. She watched the attackers kill her infant son, before brutally assaulting her and leaving her for dead in a burning house. They also killed her mother, her two sisters, and several members of her extended family. Kutupalong refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. ABOVE, RIGHT: Photo by Endia Beal from Am I What You’re Looking For, “Kyandra and Shakiya,” 2016. LEFT: Photo by Bénédicte Desrus from The Women of Casa Xochiquetzal. Portrait of Juanita, a resident of the shelter for elderly sex workers in her bedroom in Mexico City. photo ED 19
“ OUR JOB, AS PHOTOGRAPHERS, IS TO SHOW PEOPLE’S REALITY HONESTLY WITHOUT THE SUBJECT FEELING DEMEANED OR DEGRADED.” — Bénédicte Desrus
entering people’s world, especially when it’s a particularly difficult time. What I’m considering is that we all have a very fundamental human need to be seen, and that a lot of people in this world feel invisible. So when working on a story, I found that people, time and time again, respond positively to having a witness who says, “I see you, I see what you’re trying to do, what you’re struggling with.” What I find difficult is sharing that relationship, that experience with a wider audience.
me that beauty isn’t pretty, it’s empowerment and strength.” That moment of making her feel good about herself and represented accurately and honestly, that’s what I’m aiming for.
SM. My framework is honesty, which doesn’t always mean pretty.
BD. We need to think about our responsibility when publishing
An example of that is Martin Parr’s work on Brighton Beach. He was chastised for being a white male snob. The transparency of his gaze as a curious outsider is singular and what makes the work brilliant is its honesty. He didn’t shy away from who he is, his perspective is that of a white male middle class person in England. It’s not about the dignity of the people represented, but eventually that of the photographer who in this case was prepared to say “this is who I am.” KS. I can relate to what both of you are saying. Once, when I was
photographing a friend, I ended up highlighting her hands because she’s lived a long hard life and her hands show that. When we were done making the photograph together she said, ‘You reminded
20 photo ED
LBR. Given what we’ve discussed so far, what do you feel are some of the
approaches and practices in photography, whether documentary or artistic, that need to be revisited in order for photographers to do a better job at representing people honestly and with respect? images and making someone’s image public. We have to think on the impact it will have on someone’s life. ATL. I agree completely Bénédicte. And, one thing we have yet
to touch on is thinking about the role of those who commission and funds our work and how their views on respect and how to honour people’s dignity might influence our projects. Even when somebody else isn’t dictating the parameters, I find myself unconsciously thinking about what I think people might want to see. EB. Who’s commissioning is an important question, since they
often have their own ideas about what the images might or should
Promoting Contemporary Visual Arts since 1988
Photo by Bénédicte Desrus. Portrait of Donna Simpson, painting her toenails in her bathroom in Old Bridge, New Jersey. At the time of this photograph (in 2011), she weighed 602 pounds and expressed a desire to reach a target of 1,000 pounds. She holds the Guinness World Record for the “Heaviest woman to birth”, when she gave birth to Jacqueline in 2007 weighing 532 pounds. Donna maintained a website where fans paid to watch her eat and accessed photos of her body. She called herself a “body entrepreneur.” Some fans sent her food; others sent hate mail.
look like. Part of our responsibilities is to think about innovative ways to approach a story or a community, to take risks. KS. Speaking about commissioning, there’s also a
responsibility to make an effort to hire people from the communities who are able to challenge the way they have been shown up until now. SM. I’ve been waiting for this time where everything gets torn up, reconsidered, and reimagined. Part of the problem is that we have defined ourselves as storytellers. Now, thanks to social media and other formats, photography is not so much a telling, but, more and more, a conversation. That changes everything.
NOTE: This article was originally created and published on
Flash Forward, Flash Back an online publication of the Magenta Foundation. This text has been shortened from its original version.
AN OPEN, VIEWER FRIENDLY FORUM FOR THE BEST IN CANADIAN + INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS, ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN + ART EDUCATION Find us: 3rd floor, 10215 - 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T5K 1M7 T: 780 426 4180 W: harcourthouse.ab.ca
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SOFT:
TRANSFORMATIVE QUEER LOVE AND CARE A photography project by
MORGAN SEARS-WILLIAMS I HAVE BEEN photographing queer people in Toronto since 2013, one year after moving to Toronto from Kingston. As a bi/queer femme, I wanted a way to connect with other queer folks, to participate in a community with people who had similar experiences, and to build a queer chosen family. I use the term queer to mean not striving for or fitting into heteronormativity and redefining ourselves.
For years I’ve engaged in art projects around stories of trauma and violence within queer communities. Part of my process has been therapeutic. Knowing that there were others who felt similar, so in a way, we shared a bond. For me, being in a community with others means checking in, holding space for one another, and being aware of how we can be complicit in one another’s oppression. The way that queer people walk through the world is affected by lived experiences of violence and oppression from institutions, systems, and individual judgments. We are not single-issue people. Our intersecting identities, including race, physical ability, and gender, mould our lived experiences, changing our relationships to each other and our society. Queer bodies and love are made political, meaning that many laws get passed that negatively affect queer people and our communities. By virtue of our very existence, queer people are put in a position to fight against heteronormative agendas. Like the generation of queer activists that came before us who demanded HIV/AIDS healthcare and fought against the criminalization of queer sex, we are reminded of how far we have come and how far we have to go. My series SOFT explores various manifestations of love, tender care, and intimate relationships between queer people as a demonstration of a political resistance. Photography is a dynamic tool. It enables us to share our realities with unique perspectives, within the frame and in front of the lens. There is no one “truth” to any photograph.
These portraits of intimate relationships aim to move beyond the notion that the most intimate relationship a person has is with their (presumably monogamous) romantic partner. The people I’ve photographed could be lovers, siblings, romantic or platonic partners, nonmonogamous or polyamorous. Chosen family is especially important to queer, trans, and marginalized folks who are often pushed out of the home of their biological family due to their queer and/ or trans identities. A chosen family is a new opportunity to redefine what family can mean in a way that works for the individual. My images document queer chosen families. All desires, love, affection, and forms of care are validated and important to this series. I work to create a space where we can be vulnerable and peel off our layers of hurt and hardness that we build up. This series focuses on how queer love can transform an individual. Working from a mandate of “For Us, By Us,” my work is personal and primarily made for other queer folks, for my queer family, and to show folks who are struggling that they are lovable and worthy of tenderness and care. As we live in a world where queer and trans folks are told that they aren’t lovable, and that their bodies and desires are not “normal,” it is radical to love and show care for one another. When queer youth are killing themselves because of these realities, queer love literally saves lives. I hope that this project validates queer and trans people’s love and desires. This process of documenting queer love, care, and resilience is also part of my own desire to create an archive of images depicting queer love and feelings. This isn’t just about the present, but about imagining a queer future where we exist and thrive. morgansearswilliams.com photo ED 23
Photo by James Russell; Miss Black Ontario winner, Miss Rexdale, Rhonda Broadbent, 1981.
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Ears, Eyes, Voice: Black Canadian Photojournalists 1970s–1990s is an exhibition and catalogue project curated by Dr. Julie Crooks, supported by BAND (Black Artists’ Network in Dialogue) gallery and cultural centre in Toronto.
The Ears, Eyes, Voice project takes its title from the motto of a newspaper called Contrast. Now long gone, the publication played an important role in the Black community in Canada from 1969 to 1991.
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and 1980s evokes memories of reggae star Peter Tosh appearing at the O’Keefe Centre, Caribana as a giant block party on University Avenue, large African Liberation Day marches taking over downtown streets, Bathurst and Bloor as “the Caribbean area,” and growing tensions between the Black community and the police. A cadre of talented and skilled African-Canadian photographers used their cameras to document many of these places and events. Ears, Eyes, Voice: Black Canadian Photojournalists 1970s–1990s showcases the work of photojournalists Jules Elder, Eddie Grant, Diane Liverpool, Al Peabody, and Jim Russell, who began observing Black scenes through their cameras in the late 1970s. They represent a handful of African-Canadian (of Caribbean and in one case African-American origin) photojournalists working at the time, several of whom experienced overt systemic racism in their field. The collective archive of these photographers reveals a comprehensive visual record. With their lenses on politicians, community members, activists, and protesters, as well as entertainers and athletes, they tell a remarkable range of stories and histories about Black lives and experiences. On occasion, their photographs were published in the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Sun. Most of their images appeared in Spear, Contrast, and Share, all Black-owned publications that served as powerful vehicles for chronicling a blend of newsworthy stories from local and national Black perspectives and for highlighting issues of pan-geographic concern. The images featured in this project assist in framing our understanding of the diversity and 26 photo ED
THIS PAGE TOP LEFT: Photo by Diane Liverpool. A Jamaican teacher and students visit Contrast newspaper, 1980. THIS PAGE TOP RIGHT: Photo by Diane Liverpool.
Peter Tosh relaxing backstage after a concert at the O’Keefe Centre, 1981. ABOVE RIGHT: Photo by Jules Elder. Little girl reveller, Caribana, 1970.
complexity of African diasporic communities, and underscore the importance of photographic archives to help shape our narratives. Jules Elder’s images reflected the realities of the racialized politics of policing and the Black community in the 1980s. His depictions of protests and activism related to the police killing of Lester Donaldson — an unarmed, mentally ill Black man — were powerful visual statements aimed at garnering attention to the injustices plaguing the communities. The rallying cry of the protesters, “no justice, no peace,” is eerily familiar today. Eddie Grant was a regular contributor to the now defunct journal Spear: The Magazine about Truth and Soul, as well as Contrast and Share newspapers. Some examples of Grant’s photography assignments include the 1975 funeral of Michael Habbib, a teenage victim of a hate crime, as well as myriad community social events and early demonstrations for social justice. The formidable personal photography archives of both Diane
TOP RIGHT: Photo by James Russell. Alvin Curling awaiting election results during a provincial election. Curling represented Scarborough North and was elected with over 30,000 votes, a record at the time, 1985.
CENTRE RIGHT: Photo by Al Peabody. No Soweto, Caribana revellers waiting for the last ferry at Centre Island following a violent incident involving the police, 1985. BOTTOM RIGHT: Photo by Eddie Grant. Margaret
Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Beverly Manley and Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley, unidentified woman, and Anthony Hill, former Jamaican High Commissioner to Canada, 1980.
Liverpool and Al Peabody span the late 1970s to the 1990s. They contain images reflecting homogenous African-Canadian communities and a range of intimate moments both painful and celebratory. Spanning the years 1979 to 1981, Liverpool’s presence was ubiquitous as she covered both local and international artists and performers for Contrast. Liverpool was keenly aware of her status as the only Black female photojournalist and photography editor. Often gaining rare backstage access, she captured candid and familial moments of visiting musicians. Peabody’s vivid study of Caribana revellers jammed against an iron gate at Centre Island as they waited for the last ferry is replete with symbolism and meaning. The image was taken in the immediate aftermath of a violent incident involving the police. Jim Russell began his career in Toronto in the early 1970s by freelancing with the Toronto Sun newspaper. When a new photo editor was hired, he was told that he would no longer be chosen for assignments. Despite facing similar barriers, the photographers featured in this project retained an unrelenting passion for
their craft. Their dedication has resulted in rich visual historical records. Russell’s coverage of the Miss Black Ontario Pageant, for instance, showcased a moment of significance for some in the Black community that they would not find in mainstream media. Dr. Julie Crooks and BAND will soon be releasing a legacy piece catalogue for this project. To find out more, visit band-rand.com photo ED 27
CHRIS DONOVAN:
COMPLICATED MARITIME CLOUDS When Chris Donovan was a child, he looked up at the smoke billowing from the pulp mill in his hometown of Saint John, New Brunswick, and asked his dad if that was the factory that made all of the world’s clouds. “No,” his father replied. “They make money.”
FAST-FORWARD a few years and Chris is now a multi-award-winning documentary photographer who has travelled the world to tell stories with his camera. With patience, curiosity, and a gentle approach, Chris produces work that highlights people often ignored by mainstream media, thrusting them into the public sphere. He refers to his interests as finding “the interplay of community and industry” and finds photography compelling because it is a “universal” language, accessible to all.
Following formal photography studies at Mount Allison University and Loyalist College, Chris’ vast portfolio of impressive work has led him to win the News Photographers Association of Canada’s Canadian Photojournalist of the Year award for two consecutive years (2017 and 2018). His work has been recognized by Pictures of the Year International (POYi), the Sony World Photography Awards, and the National Newspaper Awards. His clients include Maclean’s Magazine, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, The Washington Post, ESPN, and many other news outlets. Although he has travelled the world to document stories such as high school basketball culture in Flint, Michigan, and women who play ice hockey at East Africa’s only rink in Nairobi, Kenya, his heart is in New Brunswick.
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Smoke billows from the Irving Refinery, the largest oil refinery in Canada. An image from Chris Donovan’s series The Cloud Factory speaks to the disparity of wealth and pollution in Saint John, NB.
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“THE MAIN THING IS TO MAKE A LOT OF PICTURES. EVEN IF WHAT YOU’RE PHOTOGRAPHING DOESN’T SEEM BIG AND IMPORTANT, JUST KEEP TAKING PICTURES.”
TOP LEFT: From the series, Patricia’s Dolls. Patricia carries one of her dolls, Michael, as she takes a walk around her neighbourhood on the west side of Saint John. Patricia cares for dolls as a way to deal with trauma. TOP RIGHT: A kid looks out the window of his family home in Crescent Valley, a government housing neighborhood in Saint John. 30 photo ED
CENTRE LEFT: Darren, a lifelong resident of Saint John’s south end smokes in the entryway to his apartment. CENTRE RIGHT: A pedestrian walks past King St East Variety in uptown Saint John. Left: Kids play in a kiddie pool in Crescent Valley.
Chris’ current and ongoing photo book project The Cloud Factory speaks to the disparity of wealth in Saint John. “This is an important project for me because it’s about my home,” says Chris. “Saint John is home to a number of billionaires, members of the Irving family who run the country’s largest oil refinery and own dozens of other companies, including all the local newspapers, employing practically the entire city. It’s also home to some very high child poverty rates. “I don’t try to be an activist or to change things with this project. It’s not about blaming anyone for the issues in New Brunswick. It’s about challenging a culture of censorship. What’s worrisome isn’t what’s in the newspaper — it’s what’s left out. That’s where The Cloud Factory comes in. Books, like newspapers, are a record of history. I hope that my book can fill in some of the blanks.” Chris’ drive to share visual stories from the Maritimes and his connections to this region run deep. With a tattoo of his grandfather’s signature over his heart, he credits his desire to communicate visually as literally being in his blood. “My grandfather, George Dubé, was a photographer and painter. He died right before I was born and I was given the middle name George. My grandmother always called me ‘George incarnate.’ Although I never met him, I was highly influenced by his paintings, which were all over our house. Visiting my grandmother in Bathurst, New Brunswick, in the house he had built, was like visiting an art gallery of his work. Paintings and photographs lined every inch of the walls.” Chris’s own projects and images do not, however, feature idyllic scenes of Maritime life. His project Patricia’s Dolls tells the heartbreaking story of a Saint John woman for whom life has been a challenge. “Patricia is a special needs woman who walks around Saint John and always has one or two dolls with her — in her arms or her stroller — caring for them as if they were her own children. Everyone in town knows Patricia but very few people actually know her story. Unfortunately she is often bullied because of her connection to these dolls. In 2013, I was working on a project called Humans of Saint John that was inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York. Patricia was one of the people I interviewed. “She told me the story of how she had been sexually assaulted by a relative as a teenager. She became pregnant and had a baby as a result, but because she was not mentally fit to care for a child, he was taken away at birth and put into foster care. “I saw Patricia again in 2017, she mentioned that after I posted her story online, she noticed people were treating her a bit better. I asked if she would be interested in working together on a photo essay. She agreed, which culminated in the project Patricia’s Dolls.
“Patricia said that she wanted everybody to know her story but she was uncomfortable sharing it with strangers. This project was difficult for a few reasons. The first is that we had to make sure Patricia fully understood what she was consenting to. “Patricia was accidentally thrown against a ceiling as a baby while a relative was playing with her. She suffered brain damage and now lives with a caretaker; although she is very high-functioning. Once I started to understand Patricia, I felt an obligation to help others understand her, too. I met with her caretaker and her sister and we discussed what disseminating her story might mean. Patricia and her family were insistent that this was something they wanted to do. “The second reason this story became difficult was because Patricia became very attached to me over the course of shooting the story. It quickly became apparent that this may not be the best thing for Patricia. I still go to visit her when I’m back home but I no longer document. “Ultimately, we ended up publishing the story with CBC and it was shared tens of thousands of times in Saint John alone. Patricia and her family said it had a measurable impact on the way she was treated. They felt like it had improved her life. “This was an extremely rewarding story because it was one of these rare moments where there’s proof that the pictures actually improved someone’s life. However, deciding that I needed to back off for her sake was also one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I think that when we get wrapped up in documenting people’s personal lives it can get complicated quickly and that is a blessing and a curse.” Chris finds inspiration for his projects from people in his community, such as Patricia, but also is inspired by fellow Canadian photographers. He speaks gratefully of the influence that photographers from his hometown had on him, either in helping him develop his skills (such as Jamie Wilson) or in their work that changed his perspective (such as Matthew Sherwood and Dan Culberson). When asked to provide advice to emerging documentary photographers, Chris says, “The main thing is to make a lot of pictures. Even if what you’re photographing doesn’t seem big and important, just keep taking pictures. Think about a professional athlete, for example: they’re working at their craft every day. Practice, practice, practice, game, practice, conditioning, practice, game, practice, etc. I try to think of my assignments and working on my personal projects as the game. If I were just playing game after game and never practising, I’d probably be a subpar athlete and I think the same is true with photography.” Follow Chris Donovan’s projects online: www.chrisdonovan.ca photo ED 31
Phyllop Peter and his wife in a sturgeonnose canoe. Kootenay Lake, 1922. From the Hunter Family Album/ Touchstones Nelson.
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BLANKET TOSS UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN Paul Seesequasis’ Indigenous Archival Photo Project
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS REPRESENT MOMENTS IN TIME , but at their best they are also able to inspire something intangible: an emotion, an empathetic response, a realization, a process of reclamation.
The online Indigenous Archival Photo Project is now in its fourth year, with touring exhibitions and a newly published book Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun, sharing a collection of Indigenous photographs and community narratives. This project is more than photographs of Indigenous peoples. It is a reconnect. It is healing. It is a reciprocal act. It is about naming, giving context, and providing some families with the opportunity to see and reclaim images for the first time. In archives, museums, and private collections, I have found thousands of photos of Indigenous peoples and then shared them online. These photos were not taken by just any photographers but those who, through various circumstances, became embedded in communities long enough for their lenses to not be as obtrusive as a tourist’s. Their cameras were accepted enough that what they framed is not staged or phony. Alongside these photos appears those of the first generation of Indigenous photographers, among them Peter Pitseolak and George Johnston, who in the midtwentieth century became pioneers within Indigenous photography.
Somewhat ironically, as it brings to life images taken decades ago, the Indigenous Archival Photo Project began through a most transitory and temporary medium: social media. Over four years ago, my mother, a residential school survivor, remarked that she was “tired of hearing just negative things about those times” and that “there had been positive and strong things in Indigenous communities then.” I began to search through archives, seeking not residential school photos or other images of colonization but images reflecting a different reality, that of integrity, strength, resourcefulness, hard work, family, and play. And I found them. When I began to post images online, I was surprised by the response. I had expected some people to “follow” and “like” the photos, but I had not counted on the comments. Many viewers had never seen the photographs before but posted to say, “That’s my grandmother!” or “That’s me, forty-two years ago!” This act of naming brought another layer to the photographs: reclamation. It was a rewarding exchange and every day brought something new. I was aware, of course, of Project Naming, a collaborative effort between Library and Archives Canada and Nunavut Sivuniksavut, which offers a special college program based in Ottawa, serving Inuit youth. This project names people in archival photos. photo ED 33
LEFT: Edward Prettyshield, Moose Mountains. Photographer Frank Mills. From the Adrian Paton Photos/ Saskatchewan History & Folklore Society. RIGHT: Two men and a woman return from fishing in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. The man in the middle is Kananginak Pootoogook. Š Library and Archives Canada. Reproduced with the permission of Library and Archives Canada. Library and Archives Canada/ Rosemary Gilliat Eaton fonds/e010975410
Being able to share and collaborate with Project Naming was a positive step in my own project. Long before the advent of smartphones and social media, we used images to define ourselves and represent how we wished others to see us. It would have been near impossible to research and gather these stories without the Internet and social media. Even if I had an unlimited budget to travel to each of these regions, I would not know where to begin, whom to talk to, who was still alive, and who was able to give context; social media opened up that channel to do this work and reach these communities. Four years and thousands of photos later, it still feels that in many ways I am just scratching the surface. There are photographs out there waiting to be discovered, shared, and reconnected to lived memory. They are part of the legacies of generations: snapshots of resilience and a refusal to acquiesce to genocide and colonialism. They transcend the frame of their moment in time. Follow Paul Seesequasis and this project online. Find him on Twitter @PaulSeesequasis and paulseesequasis.com
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GET THE BOOK Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun: Portraits of Everyday Life in Eight Indigenous Communities features photographs of Indigenous life ranging over a period of 60 years. The images portray the resilience and resourcefulness of Indigenous communities across Canada and the U.S., and illuminate a way of life that echoes and resonates in modern times. penguinrandomhouse.ca
TOP LEFT: Studio Portrait: Unnamed. Saskatchewan, c1910. Adrian Paton Photos/ Saskatchewan History & Folklore Society. TOP RIGHT: Sheouak Petaulassie (left), her boy, and a friend during a visit at the West Baffin Co-operative, Cape Dorset, Nunavut Š Library and Archives Canada. Reproduced with the permission of Library and Archives Canada. Library and Archives Canada/ Rosemary Gilliat Eaton fonds/ e010975318 LEFT: Kenojuak drawing inside her tent, Cape Dorset, N.W.T., [ (Kinngait), Nunavut], August 1960. Library and Archives Canada/National Film Board of Canada fonds/a146503
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PATTI GOWER
FROM THE FRONT LINES OF PHOTOJOURNALISM TO LEADING THE NEXT GENERATION
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PATTI GOWER IS AN AWARD-WINNING CANADIAN PHOTOJOURNALIST. Following her distinguished professional career in newspaper photojournalism at The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail, she now fosters, guides and inspires the next generation of Canadian photojournalists as an educator at Canada’s only two-year photojournalism program, at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario.
We asked her a few questions about her experience. Which project has been a professional highlight for you?
I was fortunate enough to be awarded an Atkinson Fellowship with Globe and Mail writer Margaret Philp for a project on adoption policy in Canada. We spent the better part of a year exploring issues around adoption, which took us to South Korea, where we travelled with a group of Korean adoptees, and to Indigenous communities,
You started working in journalism at a time when photography was an analog process. Besides technology, what else has changed about how photojournalists work now?
Despite what I would call a devastating decline in the media industry for staff photojournalists, I believe that the ability to find an audience for visual storytelling has had tremendous growth. Documentary work has always been a difficult field to make a living in, but if you are passionate about an issue, there are still many avenues available. Anecdotally, I would say that photojournalists are visually exploring their own personal experiences and these are being accepted as valid and important content. I am excited about the potential for growth in the visual human narrative. What brought you to teaching?
LEFT: One year after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami that devastated Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Ravita, a midwife who has been supported by CARE for supplies, bathes a newborn she delivered 8 hours before. 2005.
TOP: Women attend an outing with the organization Sistering, which services transient and homeless women living in Toronto. 1990
ABOVE: George is cared for by staff at the only AIDS hospice in Lusaka, Zambia. 2001.
where we heard individuals’ stories about the infamous Sixties Scoop. Many people’s stories challenged my beliefs and understanding of family. What got you into photojournalism in the first place?
After two years of working in the field of kinesiology at a hospital in Kitchener–Waterloo, I decided to travel for a year through Europe by bicycle. Just before leaving, I enrolled in a night school photography class and bought my first camera, a Nikon FE2. I am not sure what prompted me to take these lessons, perhaps because my younger brother was the talented artist while I was the science and math nerd. After that year-long adventure, I enrolled at Loyalist College in its newly launched photojournalism program. I had spent the year documenting my adventure and exploring with my camera. I thought I could maybe make a life for myself through travel and photography. I never looked back.
Teaching was something I did throughout most of my photojournalism career. I was involved in teaching photography in night school and college courses, and I worked with youth in an organization called L.O.V.E. ( Leave Out Violence Everywhere). When I left the Globe and Mail to work on longer documentary work, I had in the back of my mind that I wouldn’t mind teaching more. Within two years, I enrolled at teacher’s college. Coincidentally, one of my former professors was retiring from the photojournalism program at Loyalist when I graduated. My desire to teach high school photography was replaced with teaching photojournalism/documentary at my alma mater. What do you love about teaching?
I have just finished my twelfth year of teaching in the photojournalism program at Loyalist. What I started to realize early on is that what happens in the classroom is really a collaboration between you and each student. I am learning just as much as the students (I hope) at these intersections. Mentoring students to critically analyze, explore their expanding world, and begin to hone their individual voices is a privilege. You can’t ask someone to risk that exploration without deep reflection within yourself. What do you find challenging about teaching and working with students who have grown up in the digital era?
To say that there are no generational divides between myself and many of our students would not be truthful. In one large respect, I have much hope for this generation. Youth are much more aware of and sensitive to inequalities than I was at their age. They want the world to be a better place. One of the challenges that has started to permeate the classroom is the social skillset students come to college with. Many students hesitate talking with strangers. But speaking with strangers is imperative to photojournalism education. We don’t teach it in a photo ED 37
LEFT: Fred Dunn, an 80-year-old athlete, poet, and political activist, spent 14 years living in a ravine in downtown Toronto. 2003. RIGHT: Carmel lives in a government sanctioned harm reduction seniors residence in the Netherlands. 2000.
lab. The community is our lab and authentic stories are what we require students to explore while they learn about the technical aspects of photography. We are all aware of the debate between social skill development and the social media world we live in now. Is this cause and effect? I can’t answer that, but there is certainly something going on with confidence and anxiety in our twentyfirst century that is challenging photojournalism education.
which now includes 12 years of teaching documentary to students, my greatest influences in my formative years were Loyalist teachers and my co-workers and peers in the newspaper industry.
What’s your advice to emerging photojournalists in regards to producing projects with an ethical approach?
What’s your best advice on how to get started in documentary photography? What should readers be aware of when starting down the path?
The ethical approach debate is alive and well in the documentary/ photojournalism community. And debate is good. I would say, ultimately, understand your intentions. Also, research, research, research. And…just start. I love the quote by Konstantin Stanislavski: “Love art in yourself, and not yourself in art.” Who is your biggest photo inspiration?
During my time as a student in photojournalism at Loyalist College (1987–89), I was greatly inspired by Eugene Richards, W. Eugene Smith, Sebastião Salgado, Mary Ellen Mark, and many of the acclaimed greats of that time. During my staff photography career, a photo editor introduced me to On Photography by Susan Sontag. Reading that book was a decisive, if not unnerving, moment for me. What were my intentions? As I think about that question now, looking back on my career, 38 photo ED
If you could go back 10 years and tell yourself something, what would it be?
Don’t worry what anyone else thinks.
Find a mentor who not only believes in you but will also challenge you to be better: to look differently and to dig deeper. Fear of failure is such a destructive force in the process of producing a body of work and then putting it out in the world. Get up in the morning with a sense of purpose and just do what it is you have to do. I am forever quoting others, I love a quote I once heard from a marathon runner: “You run a mile, one step at a time.” And last but not least, you will never make an economic living on documentary work … but what a life you will have! What’s your biggest photojournalism pet peeve?
The idea/belief that we can tell a truth.
www.pattigower.com
PHOTOGRAPHY + COMMUNITY GOOD What do youth, cameras, and human rights have to do with one another? BY JOSHUA CAMERON
NO ONE WANTS to make their mom cry. Unless it sparks a human rights charity.
Gilad Cohen, an artist and human rights activist, had always found it hard to convey the work he was doing to his family. After Gilad showed his family a documentary about human rights abuses in North Korea, his mother broke down into tears. The film did what nothing had before: convinced his mom of the importance of sharing human rights issues through photography and film.
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Gilad began his career with projects in international development work in Kenya, Morocco, Venezuela, and Argentina. While working abroad, he took a tourist trip to North Korea for the first time. “I didn’t know much about North Korea then,” he says. “It was like going to Mars.” When he returned to Canada, he was inspired to begin working closely with North Korean refugees. Recognizing the power of film and photography, in 2012, Gilad put together a small team and launched the North Korean
LEFT PAGE, LEFT: Carlos Toh Zwakhala Idibouo. Photo by Olivia Barrett. LEFT PAGE, RIGHT: Biko Beauttah. Photo by Bushira Nakitende THIS PAGE: Anonymous. Photo by Richmond Uy.
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“WHEN WE WORK WITH ANYONE WHO HAS A STORY TO SHARE, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE’RE BEING AS HONEST AND OPEN WITH OUR SPACE AS WE CAN BE, SO AS TO NOT MISCONSTRUE OR MISREPRESENT ANYONE.”
Human Rights Film Festival. From this, JAYU emerged to address a wider range of human rights. JAYU, pronounced jahyou, means freedom in Korean. The team’s goals are to educate, build empathy, forge community, and inspire — and JAYU does all of these incredibly well. JAYU currently offers three programs: the Human Rights Film Festival, an annual, week-long event based in Toronto; The Hum, a podcast series in which guests speak about inspiring human rights experiences; and the iAM Program, a photography training course offered to underserved youth in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Each year the iAM team works with upwards of 250 youth, between the ages of 12 and 25. “The program is free,” says Celeste Cole, photographer and program director. “Over eight weeks, youth get arts and social justice training from some of Toronto’s best photography mentors.” Provided with cameras, the youth are taught not only how to tell stories, but also essential work skills, such as how to show up 42 photo ED
on time, edit and deliver photographs, and send invoices. At the end of each course, they work with JAYU to create an exhibition of their work. Participants can sell their prints, and profits from every sale go directly back to the youth photographer. “Thirty-nine of our 2018 iAM youth found paid employment as photographers after graduating from the program,” says Celeste, beaming with pride. “Some of them had to open up bank accounts for the first time to deposit their earnings.” Alumni from the program also have the chance to train to become mentors in future programs. This year, for the first time, the iAM Program has a 2015 program graduate working as a mentor for the next iAM generation — truly a milestone for JAYU. Am I Wrong to Love?, the May 2019 iAM exhibition in Toronto, was a unique project for the participating youth and the community at large. “The project was a portrait series of 20 LGBTQI refugees from 10 different countries who were forced to flee because of their gender identity or sexual orientation,” said Gilad. “Each subject was paired with an iAM photographer for a portrait session.”
LEFT PAGE, LEFT IMAGE: Nouran Hussein. Photo by Mohamad Lazakani. LEFT PAGE, RIGHT IMAGE: Dalia Avril. Photo by Ammar Bowaihl.
THIS PAGE, ABOVE: Exhibition photo by Elijah Nazareth.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Anonymous. Photo by Elise Mozarmi.
TOP RIGHT: Olumuyiwa Adesina. Photo by Rebecca Lacroix.
The exhibition opening drew a massive crowd from the community, and the panel discussion including photographers and the refugee subjects from the project was impressive and inspirational. The Am I Wrong to Love? exhibition extended JAYU’s impact in the community. JAYU also set up an Am I Wrong to Love? fund to collect donations for partner organizations that help to resettle LGBTQI refugees. This exhibition brought forth some important discussions on ethics, not just for the youth photographers, but also for JAYU. “We must always treat human rights with a lot of care and sensitivity,” says Gilad. “When we work with anyone who has a story to share, we need to make sure we’re being as honest and open with our space as we can be, so as to not misconstrue or misrepresent anyone.” Going forward, the JAYU team is looking to expand its horizons and programs past the GTA, to First Nations communities in Northern Ontario that might currently lack such opportunities. Gilad states, “We want to offer more youth the opportunity not only to explore a craft, but to learn more about themselves, feel more confident, and have fun.” Find out more about JAYU www.jayu.ca/iam photo ED 43
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SUBMISSIONS BY OUR READERS
BRENDAN MCNEILL Calgary, AB
Previous page + this page.
“An exploration of the youth culture that had a profound effect on my life during my formative years in a new home away from home. These images are a curation of their eclectic nature, a multi-narrative landscape of imagery with complimenting sentiments of self-expression, freedom, rebellion, connection and the inherent linguistic and conceptual vernacular.�
IG: @brendanmcneill
DOUG CAPLAN Langley, BC
“ I decided to document Japanese vending machines over a period of about 2 years. This is an on-going project to capture the machines in their “natural habitat”. This project explores Japanese culture at its core. Japan is a culture like no other. Traditions are honored and conformity is expected.
While cultural shifts are changing the attitudes of younger generations in particular, the vending machines continue to thrive and serve as emblematic reminders of conformity and the convenience.They are efficient and reliable. They are colorful and inviting. I find them elegant.” www.douglasedwardcaplan.com
ALI AKBAR JAFRI Markham, ON
“ My friends, family and I attend the Al Q Day event in Toronto every year for Pal and this year I decided to document the since the public rarely gets to see the ra unbiased view of our side. We are abou peace, safety and tranquility for the Pal people and until they get their rights an freedom we will continue to rally for the humanity.�
Quds lestine e protest aw, ut the lestinian nd em, for
JULIE VINCENT/ J&J LAWRENCE PHOTOGRAPHY Calgary, AB
From the series, INDIAN. RELAY. Above: Steven Wolf Tail at the Blackfoot Cultural Show at Strathmore Alberta, 2018. Right: Steven Wolf Tail at the Pikanii Rodeo and pow wow, 2018.
“ Indian Relay is a high-skills, fast, dangerous extreme sport grounded in the centuries-long relationship between plains Indians and their horses. For more than 500 years, Indigenous peoples have deep, kinship-like relationships with their horses.
The sport arises from those centurieslong relationships, where horses were critical to hunting, travel, safety, and competitions in and between communities and nations.� julievincentphotography.com
JULIE VINCENT Calgary, AB
Left: Sheldon Bear at Pikanii rodeo and pow wow, 2018. Right top: Steven Wolf Tail from the Blackfoot Cultural Show relay, Strathmore AB, 2018. Right bottom: Duane Kemer and his son Cliff Kemmer at the International Indian Relay championships
KELVIN MENDIE Toronto, ON
“ These images are an excerpt from my series Ph Blue, a project created on a recent trip back home to Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Returning home to Port Harcourt, Nigeria after four years of living in North America, I came to discover just how much I had changed as an individual in relationship to my native community as well as my family and friends. My camera, instead of merely a tool for documentation became an instrument with which I could reconnect with my community. I took my camera into the daily hustle and bustle, amidst stares and occasional questions about if I work for the government. These images exist as an attempt to counteract the popular narrative of African suffering with stories of love, innovation and resilience. Topics which are rarely ever associated with the African individual in western culture. I believe that approaching cultures on an individual rather than aesthetic level is a key factor in the process of decolonization of the pan-African narrative.� @ODU.DU
MELISSA RICHARD Fort McMurray, AB
“ Documents of my children’s daily lives and childhood.” IG: @melissarichard4
ADAM REID Toronto, ON “ That Ontario Mess is a documentation of the city I live in. Toronto is frequently represented in photographs by architectural landmarks such as the CN tower and our iconic streetcars. This series gives a first hand look at the city beyond the surface level to look at current issues such as housing, displacement, poverty, and the increasing shift towards a stratified society. This series has been going since 2014 and is entirely shot on black and white 35mm film, hand developed and printed in Toronto.
IG: @government_weed
CHAD TOBIN Nova Scotia
“ To Be Frank chronicles my ten-year friendship with photographer, Robert Frank. This series is comprised of photographs in which Frank himself is woven into the sealaced landscape of Nova Scotia. My visual narrative of the artist’s humble surroundings provides a window into how the photographer managed to slip in and out of situations in 1950’s America.
Using a small rangefinder camera to capture quiet moments focused on intimacy and simplicity, my approach to photography allowed me to return, summer after summer, spending afternoons sitting and looking at the ocean with Frank. To Be Frank reflects a personal journey of obsession with trying to understand one of photography’s mythical figures and lessons learned about finding the photographer’s own path toward self-identify.” www.chadtobin.com
DAVE COULSON Toronto, ON
“ Nature and the environment have always been important to me. Following my education in Environmental Studies in university, it soon became clear that there was a disconnect between what was known and studied behind the walls of academia, and the attitudes and perceptions of the general public when it came to environmental issues. I picked up a camera because I wanted to make a difference. For the past three years, my work has examined and reported on the complex, fraught and indivisible relationships between people and planet. From endangered turtles in Ontario, to following the migration of 30 thousand caribou in Alaska, to the disappearing jungles of Indonesia where orangutans are dramatically in decline, I’ve tried to create awareness and impact with my images.I aim to inform, to connect and to foster understanding. Images on this page are from the series, PEOPLE OF THE FOREST: The Story of Palm Oil in Northern Sumatra. Derived from Malay and Indonesian words, the name orangutan means “person of the forest”. Indonesia has experienced the fastest deforestation rate in the world. The destruction of the forest has jeopardized not only a life sustaining ecosystem for people and wildlife alike, but also a global biological hot spot and carbon sink. In 2018, I traveled to Sumatra to document the transformation of this region. Spending time at the Orangutan Information Centre, a conservation organization dedicated to protecting Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) and their rainforest home, opened my eyes to this issue that transcends the regional but is of global concern. These images depict the complex and pressing tale of palm oil in Northern Sumatra, where destruction and restoration, orangutan and people, conservation and livelihood collide.” www.davecoulson.ca
DAVE COULSON Toronto, ON
A GLIMMER OF HOPE, Turtle Restoration in the Upper Thames River. “ Perhaps Canada’s most peculiar looking turtle, the spiny soft shell is the only freshwater turtle to have a pliable, leathery shell and long, snorkel-like snout. They are also one the country’s most threatened turtles, currently listed as endangered under the Federal Government’s ‘Species at Risk Act.’ This is due to a variety of factors: habitat loss, flooding, invasive plants and poaching, coupled with the fact that females need to be at least 12-years-old to lay eggs. In Southern Ontario, the Upper Thames Conservation Authority (UTCA) has been working for over two decades to restore a struggling population hovering around 1,000 remaining turtles. The recovery program protects nests, incubates and hatches baby spiny soft shell turtles, eventually releasing them into the Thames River. Without human intervention, there would be close to zero juvenile spiny soft shells naturally surviving and maturing to successfully increase the population. Turtle survival rates are low. It is estimated that for every 100 turtles placed into the river, maybe one will survive; sometimes it can be as low as one in every 1,000. Despite these odds, the UTCA team has remained dedicated and persistent, hatching and releasing a record 6,000 baby spiny soft shells into the river during the summer of 2017. For every baby turtle that that the team watches disappear into the river banks, a glimmer of hope remains.” www.davecoulson.ca
RANDALL ROMANO Toronto, ON
Revealing Strolls “ Toronto’s Financial District, is the eighth largest in the world and the second biggest in North America after New York City. Every weekday 200,000 daily migrants flood into and out of the district. By simply walking, and observing the evolving life on the street I found a multitude of photographic opportunities. The quality of light in the skyscraper tunnels can be utterly fabulous, continuously changing and illusive, just like the personalities of the people on the street.” www.randallromano.com
DAVID WILLIAMS Toronto, ON
PATH “ Below Toronto’s financial district is a complex maze known as the PATH, stretching 30 km. It is the world’s largest underground shopping complex with approximately 1,200 shops and services employing about 5,000 people. I view the network as a microcosm of our society encapsulated within a somewhat surreal and artificial environment. Social issues prevalent in wealthy urban settings are emphasized here and include wealth and health disparities, consumerism, the frenetic pace of urban working lives, the pains of loneliness within a sea of humanity, and the sense of unease provoked by constant surveillance. The surreal nature of this environment is accentuated by its changing face over a 24 hour cycle, ranging from extreme activity to virtual abandonment - a metaphor for our consumer culture.” IG: @rovingeye_to davidwilliamsphotography.ca
JOSÉE VAN WISSEN Toronto, ON
June 13th, 2019 Crowds gathered at Jurassic Park for game 6 of the NBA Finals. They stared at the screens in anticipation as the Raptors and Warriors battled head to head in a nailbiting match. In the seconds remaining of the game, the Raptors jumped head leading to a historic victory for Toronto and for Canada.
CHRISTOPHER MANSON Toronto, ON
“ Going, Going, is a long-term project about the timelessness that permeates the parish of Driffield, UK. Having grown up in the tiny market town in the heart of the Yorkshire Wolds (population 13,000), I have returned fifteen years later to photograph the subjects, people, places, and things that informed my childhood. By uniting the towns past and present, I aim to illuminate a sense of place.� www.christophermanson.com/going-going
TREVOR WIDE Vancouver, BC
Trevor Wide is a street photographer focused on capturing humanity and unique moments in his city. IG: @trevorwide_art trevorwide.com
MITCHELL BROWN Toronto, ON
Mitchell Brown is the Canadian Director for the International Fire Photographers Association. He provides photography services for training, live scene and apparatus purposes, in addition to traditional firefighter portraits for his collages. www.smokeisshowing.ca
GUN ROZE Toronto, ON
Manhattan 1982
From a series of 82 colour photographs captured on 35mm film, on the streets of Manhattan in 1982, from the perspective of a Torontonian falling in love with New York City. www.shot-by-gun.com
MARCUS PALADINO Tofino, BC
COLD COMFORT
“ Although my commercial photography is mainly focused on high-performance action and lifestyle, as of late I’ve been looking for a more artistic approach to waves. Not everyone believes that the energy of waves ends at the beach, which is why I’d like to pass these on these moments of perfection that most people don’t even know exist but can still resonate with.” IG: @marcuspaladino www.marcuspaladino.com
TOP LEFT: LAST SHOT TOP RIGHT: SMOOTH HUES LEFT: UNDER BRUSH RIGHT: WAVE INCEPTION
TYLER J. EDWARDS Toronto, ON
FROM THE SLUMS TO THE SUN — A SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO San Juan proved to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, even after the wake of 2017’s Hurricane Maria. This is La Perla. This Puerto Rican slum is known for being the backdrop to the Despacito music video — the most viewed music video of all time in 2017 following Justin Bieber’s remixed version of the song by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee.
LEFT: OLD SAN JUAN SUN CENTRE: WELCOME TO LA PERLA The citizens of La Perla remain divided on the attentio has brought to their home. Some say it brings ignoran who only venture in to say we have been where a famo —and I can’t say I disagree. Others who are happy abo popularity have put up this poster in the center square come to La Perla, the filming site of Despacito” (or at what it says).
on the music video nt tourists (like us) ous video was shot out the newfound e declaring “Welleast I’m told that’s
ATIA POKORNY Toronto, ON
“ The end of the Cold War brought enormous changes to the economy of the Czech Republic. Industries, large and small, under the old regime had been state owned, so political transformation also meant transition of state ownership into private hands. This process was fraught with corruption. Many large industrial complexes were acquired by unscrupulous individuals or foreign companies who often took out the best assets and left the rest in ruins. My work documents the result of one such example from a former steelworks complex about 40 km west of Prague. The facility had been mismanaged, closed and abandoned.” IG: @pokornyatia atiapokorny.ca
PIETE
Edmonto
EVIDEN
“ This seri photos d areas, ra
What is a bounty of
See more
IG: @ pie
ER DE VOS
on, AB
NCE OF HABITATION
ies explores informal housing and homelessness in Edmonton, Alberta. The document the physical and symbolic processes of place-making in wooded avines, alleyways, and under bridges across the four seasons.
a home? Who is a neighbour? Who has the rightful access to the resources and f the City? What responsibilities do we have to our fellow citizens?�
e from this series at pieterdevos.ca/#/habitation
eter.devos
POLINA TEIF Toronto, ON
EULOGY FOR THE DEAD SEA Eulogy for the Dead Sea is a poetic experimental documentary chronicling the disappearance of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea borders Jordan, Palestine’s West Bank and Israel. It is the lowest place on earth and known for its therapeutic high sodium and mineral-rich waters. Despite its name, the Dead Sea basin is host to many wildlife species and is superb for farming. Unfortunately, due to the diversion of water from the Jordan River and mass mineral extraction through evaporation pools, the Dead Sea’s water reduction currently measures at 1.3m annually. The Dead Sea is a terminal lake. Meaning, all fresh river water that flows in, doesn’t flow out. It gathers and evaporates, leaving behind a rich concentration of salts and minerals. According to the Global Nature Fund’s Living Lakes project, over the last three decades, the Dead Sea has lost a third of its surface area. Prognosis: Terminal.
IG: @massiveunderstatement polinateif.com
TOP:
BIDEMI OLOYEDE Toronto, ON
PREACH “ PREACH is an ongoing series of 35mm black and white photographs taken at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto. The series documents proselytizing on the street, by members of both Islamic and Christian faiths. I am interested in both the preachers and the reactions of passersby. The gathering of religious representatives in public spaces is consequently an incitement to positive and at times, negative debate. My work aims to document this phenomenon, not to side with either group or serve as a political statement.�
IG: @bidemioloyede bidemioloyede.com
LEFT:
AKSHAY PURI Toronto, ON
VICTORIA ROBINSON Milton, ON
FARM LIFE “ I am a documentary photographer who focuses on farming. Exploring what agriculture means to communities in Ontario, my work includes landscapes, portraits, and details to immerse the viewer in the story. I have a passion for capturing the beauty of farming environments. This image features a young farmer who is working towards taking over a farm and learning from the pervious generations. Farming is often thought of as an old lifestyle. I want to showcase the young farmers that work hard daily and have a true passion for being a part of the agriculture community.”
IG: @victoria_robinson_photography victoriarobinsonphoto.com
RIGHT:
HANNAH DICKIE Lucknow, ON
HOME GROWN “ Growing up on a farm in Bruce County, Ontario, Hannah Dickie has always had an interest in exploring the people and places that make up who she is today. One of her biggest influences has been her dad, a hobby sheep farmer and maple syrup producer. Home Grown gives viewers a glimpse into her rural upbringing.”
IG: @hannah.dickie
JOSEPH BOLTRUKIEWICZ Port Coquitlam, BC
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