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Xavi Bou, “Ornithography #08” Seagulls cross the sky just after sunset. PHOTOGRAPHS CAPTURE A MOMENT IN TIME, an instant frozen in perpetuity. “Still life,” if you will. Movement is only ever implied. Take, for example, a blur indicating the path an object has travelled, like an indistinct figure crossing a room. Or a composition that directs your eye to follow a trajectory, like triangles converging on the horizon. In many cases, our lived experiences inform our perception of motion — when we see an image of the ocean, we can sense it undulating and crashing against rocks. However, there are two artists who go beyond typical methods of showing movement within photography — Xavi Bou and nicholas x bent. For them, movement is both the content and the method. Xavi Bou, “Ornithography #238” Starlings being attacked by a peregrine falcon. When in danger of an attack, starlings compress their flight formation as a defence mechanism. The Suspended Birds of Xavi Bou A large black cloud creeps in from the top right of Xavi Bou’s “Ornithography #238.” It appears as layers of graphite scribbles, but beneath the bulbous mass, a curious subtle wave ascends from left to right, resembling more measured mark making.  These are not pencil drawings at all, but photographs of birds in flight. Each line is composed from hundreds of stills of a single feathered flyer, following its trajectory through the air. The ominous cloud is the overlapping routes of a murmuration of starlings as they compress their group formation in defence from the peregrine falcon attacking from below, as shown in the wavy line. Using a 4K cinema camera, Xavi records birds in slow motion to make this and other images in his Ornithographies  series. Each frame of the video is a still shot, which the Spanish photographer layers digitally to create his compositions. “I’m not discovering new species,” he says, “I’m showing common species in a new way.” Xavi Bou, “Ornithography #151” Starlings murmuration. The bodies of the birds reflects the colour from the light. Xavi often doesn’t realize the colour of the print until the final output. In “Ornithography #151,” you get a similar graphite-like cloud of starlings, this one with the frenzied energy of a tornado. “Ornithography #08” is more calm, with four softly curving waves — akin to the falcon’s pathway — suspended against a soft blue-and-yellow sunset sky. In Ornithographies #194 and #243, the flight paths are more ribbon-like, floating among the clouds. Each frame captures the bird, frozen, suspended in the sky, and when multiples are compiled into a single image, there’s no blur. Each wing position is there, each point along the flight path plotted out. It’s not what we’re used to seeing in avian photography. “Why is wildlife always represented in the same way?” asks Xavi, referring to the vibrant, highly detailed and technical nature photography that’s more typical. “In the arts, it’s common to ask about how we represent society, people, gender — how we represent many things. But I haven’t seen another way to represent nature in photography.” His approach is highly technical and scientific, yet in stitching together multiple images into one, Xavi’s birds become lyrical and expressive. “It’s reality — I’m just changing the perception of time,” he says. It captures the unseen geometry of movement in nature. nicholas x bent, “3” from the MARGINALIA series. The Haunting Trees of nicolas x bent nicholas x bent, on the other hand, uses movement in nature to explore psychological and emotional turbulence. In his work, twisted branches and blurred leaves in black and white evoke chaos and fear. Your eyes struggle to bring into focus the trees and landscapes that he photographs, creating disorientation and discomfort. “These things are living, breathing entities,” says nicholas. “When you diffuse them in this fashion, they become something different. You feel like limbs are going to reach towards you.” These are the trees of nightmares. To achieve his emotive, charcoal-sketch–like photographs, nicholas relies on long exposures and in-camera movement (ICM). Keeping his subject within his viewfinder as he leaves the shutter open, he moves around it, sometimes on foot and sometimes in a car, on skis, or riding a snowmobile. “I’m able to hold the subject and deform the subject at the same time,” he says. “It gives that same emotional, visual connection that I had as a child looking at the old trees on the islands in Georgian Bay.” Growing up in Northern Ontario during an era of intense mining, nicholas is attuned to the loss of nature to industry, and it underlies much of his work. His Ex Cathedra  series addresses micro logging, for example, while his Marginalia  series tackles industrial farming. Yet for nicholas, these questions of land use parallel questions of humanity and how we treat each other. Marginalia’ s gnarled trees sit along the borders of industrial farm fields — small pieces of wild left on the sidelines to make way for profits. Just as the trees are pushed into ever-smaller areas to make way for homogenized landscapes, there is little room left for people’s individualism within current systems. “The more you marginalize anything, the more abstract they’ll become,” says nicholas. “Boundaries are being forced upon them.” The movement in nicholas’ photographs conveys anguish and loss. nicholas x bent, “6” from the MARGINALIA series. The Emotion of Movement Both Xavi and nicholas challenge traditional still photography by focusing on movement — but their visions couldn’t be more different. Technique is central to their work but doesn’t define it. Through movement, they introduce us to a new way to look at and understand our world. While the two artists manipulate time and space, Xavi seeks harmony in motion, and nicholas confronts its chaos. Together, their work reveals the power of photography to visualize time through motion, not as a frozen instant, but as a dynamic and deeply expressive force. This feature was produced with the support of The Cardinal Gallery, and premiered in 2025 in issue #75, The MOVEMENT edition. The Cardinal Gallery is a creative exhibition space with a focus on showing fine art photography as well as providing an inviting event venue for the arts community. thecardinalgallery.ca IG: @thecardinalgallery

Journeys to other worlds in Adam Makarenko’s Toronto workshop There is a box under the worktable in Adam Makarenko's Toronto studio. Like the rubbish bin of some unhinged god, it contains hundreds of planets, each about the size of a fist. This is Adam's sculptural library of imagined exoplanets. His works are modelled on real worlds that orbit stars light-years away. Each of his creations - rocky surfaces streaked with blue, gas giants with swirls of white and red - draws on the sparse data astronomers have collected, combined with the principles of planetary composition we have learned from our own solar system. When these exoplanets are photographed against a dark backdrop, or juxtaposed against an elaborate set seething with lava or coated in crystalline spires, the images look as though they were beamed from another part of the Milky Way. In reality, each exoplanet is made of plaster or Styrofoam that has been covered in glue or paint to add texture and colour. Adam's work shows us that advanced technology isn't always enough to bring humans to other worlds - exploring the galaxy requires imagination, too. In an essay for Atlas Obscura about the history of "space art," author George Pendle observes that, while photography usurped illustration in a number of scientific disciplines throughout the nineteenth century, outer space remained an area "too far away to be photographed yet too thrilling to be left undocumented." Art and science have a symbiotic relationship: art inspires new generations of researchers, while new discoveries inspire more artists. Take, for example, one of the first detailed artistic creations of these faraway worlds: the cover of The Conquest of Space (1949), illustrated by American painter Chesley Bonestell. The picture shows a rocket perched on a shadowy, mountainous moonscape. In the foreground, suited figures assemble a scientific instrument. The image helped popularize the idea of manned space travel - even rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun was a fan of Bonestell's work. At the time Bonestell was drawing these scenes, the idea of humans going to the stars was regarded with scepticism (NASA launched its second monkey into space that same year; it did not survive). Only 20 years later, the first astronauts touched down on our moon. There are simpler, and more realistic, ways to show distant objects than by creating intricate miniatures. Computers have become the standard method (the producers of 2014's Interstellar hired a physicist to help create the film's CGI black hole). And the James Webb Space Telescope - a more powerful successor to the Hubble - will launch in 2018, giving scientists the ability to directly examine hitherto unseen exoplanets. Adam believes that his sculptures, physical planets that can be moved and touched, provide something equally important. "There is something tangible about the miniature versus something that is made on the computer - not necessarily better, but different," he writes. "It makes these far-off places appear to be more real for me, because they are sculptural forms. Thee images are literally transporting the viewer to a physical place." adammakarenko.com This article originally appeared in The Walrus Magazine. It has been reproduced with permission. Find this story and more in our STUDIO MAGIC: BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE - ISSUE #54 (print copies have SOLD OUT - but you can access the edition as a digital replica on Press Reader)

Books and media to inspire your fashion focused photography THE POWER OF STYLE: HOW FASHION AND BEAUTY ARE BEING USED TO RECLAIM CULTURES By Christian Allaire  Dedicated to “all the kids who feel like they aren’t seen or heard,” The Power of Style takes seriously how what we wear speaks loudly about our cultures, politics, and economics. This is a kids book that adults need to read. Christian Allaire, a fashion writer for Vogue and an Ojibwe, understands the complex interplay of style, power, and self-expression in our daily lives. He gives young readers a wealth of well-illustrated examples of how diverse groups are using fashion to express themselves and to strengthen their communities.  Softcover, 2021, 96 pages  $15. + shipping  Annick Press  BLACK FUTURES, Edited by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham  What does it mean to be Black and alive right now? That’s the question behind this rich diving board of a book that invites readers to get their feet wet in contemporary Black experience and then to jump into imagining — and creating — Black futures. The book does not claim to be comprehensive, but there is so much content here that the book’s signposts are welcome: a simple set of colour codes and thematic sections with names such as Black Lives Matter, Joy, Power, and Memory. A multilayered resource to consult, rather than read from start to finish.  Hardcover, 2020, 544 pages  $54 + shipping  GREY AREA, Written, directed, and produced by Keesha Chung Keesha Chung’s first short film is a glimpse into the life of an aspiring model in the fashion industry. Keesha aims to highlight the work and stories of creatives of colour. Her film premiered in 2021 and draws on the skills of an all-Toronto crew on both sides of the camera and showcases the city itself. 2020; 14 minutes For more information, including up-coming screenings, visit greyareamovie.com THE NEXT BLACK: A FILM ABOUT THE FUTURE OF CLOTHING, Directed by David Dworsky and Victor Kohler  Did you know that textile production is one of the most resource-intensive industries on the planet and that our consumption of textiles is exploding? Resisting the temptation to paint an end-of-the-world scenario, The Next Black highlights industry pioneers working at the intersections of fashion, digital technology, environmental concerns, and biological engineering. From Lady Gaga’s bubble-blowing harness, to a dress grown as bacteria in a vat of liquid, to biotech wearables for athletes, the clothes we wear are becoming more innovative, sustainable, and interactive.  2014; 46 minutes  Find it FREE on YouTube  AFTER PHOTOGRAPHY, By Fred Ritchin For many photographers, the choice between digital and analogue can break down to a question of aesthetics. Fred Ritchin, Dean Emeritus of the International Center of Photography, draws readers into a much deeper discussion of the challenges and opportunities of digital media and the way they affect how we perceive and engage with the world around us. A provocative book for those of us who want to reflect on the images we make and the images we consume. Hardcover, 2008, 160 pages $33 + shipping This story featured in our FASHION X FUTURE edition, a special curation by Djenabé! The print edition SOLD OUT - but you can check out the DIGITAL REPLICA - HERE. Enjoyed this free read?!  We need your support to continue producing great, original content for you to enjoy! Consider supporting us! JOIN US AS A PATRON   • SUBSCRIBE FOR PRINT DELIVERY   • READ our digital editions   • Make a donation

THIS PHOTOMONTAGE  is an early entry in Hannah Maynard’s Gems of British Columbia  series, which showcases the remarkable creativity and innovation the photographer is known for today. Hannah Maynard; “Eighteen Hundred Gems of British Columbia Greet You!” from Gems of British Columbia ; 1884; BC Archives, Royal BC Museum, Victoria. Hannah Hatherly Maynard (1834 – 1918) was one of the first professional female photographers in Canada, owning and operating a portrait studio in Victoria, British Columbia, for 50 years.  Hannah Hatherly was born in Cornwall, England, and emigrated to Canada with her husband, Richard Maynard (1832 – 1907), in 1853 at around 19 years of age. The pair lived in Bowmanville, Ontario (then Canada West), where it’s believed Hannah learned photography from R & H O’Hara Photographers. They moved to Victoria in 1862 where they would settle for life and where Hannah opened Mrs. R. Maynard’s Photographic Gallery. In addition to her standard studio portraiture, she became the official photographer for the Victoria police and worked for the government producing ethnographic portraits. Hannah retired in 1912 and died in 1918 at the age of 84.  Hannah became widely recognized for her annual Gems series with which she promoted her studio, releasing a photomontage each year from 1881 to 1895. The photomontages featured children that she had photographed that year and were sent out in the form of new year’s greeting cards to parents of the children. The Gems  series was inspired by the fashionable but brief trend in photography known as gems – very small tintypes able to be mounted to jewellery. To create her Gems series, Hannah meticulously cut out and mounted photographs of the children before rephotographing as a whole. The montages often took on the shapes of other objects, including potted plants, wreaths and, as seen here, a painter’s palette.  Hannah Maynard–expert Claire Weissman Wilks points out the theme of grief hidden in the compositions, with many of the Gems  featuring ghostly apparitions. For example, this 1884 Gems photomontage features two young girls on either side of the montage who appear otherworldly and statuesque. The child on the left is smiling and holding a bird, while the child on the right is crying, holding a dead bird. This is an early example of Hannah’s practice of what she called “living statuaries”: sitters she made to look like statues through the use of white powder and clever positioning. Grief is a common theme throughout Hannah’s work; a mother of five, she lost the first of two children the year prior to this particular composition.  Hannah’s experiments pushed the boundaries of storytelling through photography further technically and creatively than many of her contemporaries, and predecessors. Although many passionate female photography experts and advocates continue to promote Hannah’s work in contemporary art and education contexts, her superior work remains under-appreciated.  NOTES: The BC Archives at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria holds a large collection of Hannah’s photographs and supplied the image for this article. Sources for this article include Photography in Canada, 1839–1989  by Sarah Bassnett and Sarah Parsons, 2023; and The Magic Box: The Eccentric Genius of Hannah Maynard  by Claire Weissman Wilks, 1980. For more information on Hannah Maynard, look forward to Hannah Maynard: Life & Work , by Elizabeth Anne Cavaliere, to be released in 2026. As seen in the MELD issue. SOLD OUT in print - but available to read on Press Reader This feature was produced with the support of the Photographic Historical Society of Canada.  www.phsc.ca Did you enjoy this FREE read? Consider supporting us! We'd love your support to continue producing great content for you to enjoy!   • JOIN US AS A PATRON   • SUBSCRIBE FOR PRINT DELIVERY   Follow us on Patreon , Facebook , and Instagram , and sign up for our e-newsletter to keep up with all our adventures!

EVERYONE HAS A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP TO FOOD AND FOOD PRODUCTION. Image by Bob St Cyr This single frame by Bob St-Cyr opens volumes of questions we collectively should be asking. This image depicts a scene of an older man, bent over, picking fruit off the ground. In the background, a younger woman stands with her back to the man. She has what appears to be a phone in her hand, and she is taking a photo. The first thing that I saw was the man, immediately, it made me think about travel restrictions during the last few years, and migrant workers, unable to travel to Canada and pick our crops for us. There were many news stories on how entire crops were left to rot in the fields because no one was willing to pick them. Is this a statement on the work ethic of different generations? Another viewer may look at this scene and feel frustration with the woman with the phone. This is an all too familiar sight. People everywhere, walking around like zombies with phones in front of their faces, living life through phone screens and social media filters. Maybe she is an Internet influencer promoting her experience visiting an orchard or someone who has worked in this orchard and is making a video teaching people where apples come from. Are these two people related to each other or are they strangers? Is this scene real or staged? Are there other people just out of the frame or are these two alone? Who picked the full basket of apples in the foreground? How large is this farm? Where are these apples destined? Are they going to a local market or a supermarket on the other side of the world? Was this photo documenting apple-harvesting methods in a particular place in the world or is it a local vacation snapshot? It is very possible that the real story to this photograph has no special explanation and is a basic and banal scene. But does that really matter to us as viewers if we read into it? Why did the photographer choose to preserve and share this moment in time? What’s the message in the act of presenting images without context? Interpreting the meaning of an image is really just guessing. What makes one person feel passionately about any one piece of art, a song, a poem, or a photograph is personal and depends on individual life experiences and unique points of view. Photographs have the power to tell stories but, without context, interpretations will vary. What do you see in this image? What societal message can it press you to re-think for yourself? Like what you see here? Read more in the FOOD ISSUE As an independent editorial publication we'd love your support to continue producing great, original content! Enjoyed this free read?!  Consider supporting us! JOIN US AS A PATRON   • SUBSCRIBE FOR PRINT DELIVERY   • READ our digital editions   • Make a donation

A PLAYLIST By Martine Marie-Anne Chartrand It’s amazing what music can do! Like visual art it can change your mood in an instant. Both are very therapeutic. Creating a playlist is not such an easy task when you are a person that is like a mood ring. For instance, when I am writing course outlines and teaching collage classes to kids, I really enjoy playing instrumental music like Messer Chups, soundtrack to Hilda and Harmonium. It’s chill and laid back . When I am more invested in my storytelling through image making or my process exploration, I prefer music that reflects me being immersed in my art where I feel that there is no fine line between the two atmosphere’s of art and music. I like feeling teleported in my art by the music I listen to while creating. I appreciate stories in music, like Pink Floyd and mes aieux. Great storytellers. I like discovering and exploring new photo processes and the same goes for music. I am really enjoying an instagram discovery of Beach Head Yeg @beachheadyeg . This music is chill and connected at the same time. I would very much like to do a collaboration of photos and music with this musician. Hint, hint! In the end I am very eclectic, just like a mood ring and I like more haunting sounds like Anna Von Hausswolff and I occasionally like the soundtrack of ambient life… touskifaitoutmartine.ca @touskifaitoutmartine Enjoyed this free read?!  Consider supporting us! JOIN US AS A PATRON   • SUBSCRIBE FOR PRINT DELIVERY   • READ our digital editions   • Make a donation

“These photographs will either serve as tools -of preservation or live on as legacies of what -unique and astounding places we once had. -My fingers are crossed for the first option.” TJ Watt offers an invitation. The invitation is not to look at the two-dimensional surface of his work but to walk in, place yourself deep within the photograph, smell the fresh, moist air, and stare up at 1000-year-old trees in one of British Columbia’s old-growth forests. Watt creates space for the viewer to enter by using leading lines from the foreground that weave the viewer through the trees and deep into these ancient forests. There is a figure in many of his images to give the work a sense of scale and to encourage viewers to see themselves in the image. There is a hyper-realism to these richly textured works, accentuated by the sharp focus and majestic light. Watt encourages us to linger over the details, as our eyes explore the textures and hues of the trees, along with the mosses, lichens, and other plants that have taken root on the surface of the bark. Looking at these photographs gives one a sense of the fertile ground that nourishes these plants and the complex ecosystem that has evolved naturally for thousands of years. The endangered old-growth forests on Vancouver Island are some of the last remaining temperate rainforests left on Earth. Watt describes his exploration deep into British Columbia’s backwoods as transcendent. “When you walk through these forests, there is a different rhythm and a rekindling of a connection to something more primal, complex, magical,” he says. “I’m always amazed by the scale; trees the size of your living room, everything is draped with mosses. It’s like stepping into another world. It’s peaceful and humbling.” One of Watt’s goals is to capture the scale and serenity of the forest and bring it back so that others can appreciate the forest’s beauty and complexity. “If I can’t physically take someone there, then the next best thing is to allow them to step into the scene through the window of a photograph. You are much more likely to stand up and try to protect a special place if you can sense it, feel it, and develop an emotional connection with it.” British Columbia’s old-growth forests are under threat. Watt uses existing satellite imagery to understand the impact of logging, farming, and urbanization. “According to 2006 data, approximately 75 percent of Vancouver Island’s productive old-growth forests have been logged, including 90 percent of the valley bottoms where the biggest trees grow and the richest biodiversity is found,” he explains. The Upper Walbran Valley is home to some of the finest remaining stands of endangered old-growth red cedar in British Columbia. Footpaths wind through the most magnificent ancient forests. But the forest is far from safe, and Watt states that “active logging is taking place nearby.” Logging the last remnants of old-growth habitat has implications for science, medicine, and countless species of animals and insects, not all of which are known. Watt uses photography as a way of mapping and recording how plant and animal species rely on these areas for survival. Watt also uses photography to educate viewers about nature’s life cycle. He points out that a forest contains a continuous circle of life. “The big cedar has broken off and died, and its hollow stump can provide shelter for animals like cougars, wolves, deer, and bears. The log will also store large amounts of water in the dry summer months, which helps new trees to sprout,” he says. Watt also points out some of the misconceptions about the forest: “It’s a human bias that if we don’t use the tree for lumber then it just goes to waste, when in fact, the tree continues to play an important role for plants and animals even when it dies.” Watt is a co-founder of the Ancient Forest Alliance, a grassroots environmental organization working to protect British Columbia’s endangered old-growth forests and forestry jobs. Some of his photographs tell the story of the destruction and devastation that is occurring in the ancient rainforests he is trying to protect. He uses photography as a way to educate, inform, and inspire governments and citizens to act. Surprisingly, Watt is not entirely against logging. However, he wants a re-examination of logging practices and government protection of ancient forests. Currently, only about 6 percent of the Island’s original productive old-growth forests are protected within parks, and he would like to see this number increase. “There is an inevitable transition to logging second-growth forests as the old-growth runs out. We desperately need to protect what little we have left to ensure the survival of endangered species, fight climate change, and for the simple fact that these are some of the most magnificent ecosystems in the world” he suggests. According to Watt, “Old-growth forests support a larger diversity of plant and animal species, whereas the much younger and simpler second-growth tree plantations typically lack a complex ecological structure.” For example, “Old-growth forests have trees of all ages, anywhere from one day old to possibly more than a thousand years old, which creates a multi-layered canopy. As older trees die and fall over, it allows more light to reach the forest floor and nourish plants, whereas the even-aged second growth stands block out much of the light, allowing fewer plants to grow.” Watt uses photographic comparisons to illustrate his point: “You see a significant difference between a forest that’s been evolving for thousands of years and a tree plantation. These photographs will either serve as tools of preservation or live on as legacies of what unique and astounding places we once had. My fingers are crossed for the first option.”  TJ WATT - BEFORE/ AFTER Vancouver, BC "Before/ After is not a series I ever hope to complete but these are before and after images of giant ancient cedars cut in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht territory on southern Vancouver Island. I revisited a magnificent grove that I had explored and photographed earlier, only this time it was the stumps of those same trees that would be my focus. Gone were the vibrant flourishes of red, green, and gold. Instead, a bleak, grey landscape lay before, utterly unrecognizable from what I remembered. Heart wrenching as they are, I hope these images stand as stark example of what is still happening everyday across BC and why we need to protect these endangered forests."  TJ WATT - BEFORE/ AFTER Vancouver, BC photoED Magazine featured TJ WATT and this article in our FALL 2011: Our Changing Planet – Issue 32. If you’re looking for eco photography inspiration, READ MORE in the ECO issue , and the LAND issue Check out what TJ Watt has been up to lately at: www.tjwatt.com Learn more about the Ancient Forest Alliance Enjoyed this free read?!  Consider supporting us! JOIN US AS A PATRON   • SUBSCRIBE FOR PRINT DELIVERY   • READ our digital editions   • Make a donation #TJWatt #nature #ecophotographycanada #canadianphotography #BritishColumbia

A curator and a care-giver in conversation A long sleek grey table is covered in dozens of photographs of over-sized leaves. Look closer, and you’ll find the foliage appears layered, like a patchwork quilt. A pair of golden paint-by-numbers looking leaves sit nestled against each other; a broad, dark green leaf bears at its centre shingles of teal, seafoam, and ochre; a flower sits afire in scarlet, crimson, and marmalade. These pieces are part of Jennifer Long ’s series, Mended Leaves , the most recent entry into her decade-spanning lens-based consideration of motherhood, caregiving, and community. At home in Toronto, the photographer shares her work with Peppa Martin , a visiting Vancouver-based gallerist, writer, and curator. The conversation flows from photography to family, care-giving, the pandemic, and how it has all shaped Jennifer’s current art practice. Peppa Martin (left) looks at a piece from Mended Leaves by Jennifer Long (right). “The artwork evolved as I circled close to home, walking through my neighbourhood as a way to reclaim public space during the lockdowns.” “While on these excursions I collected petals and leaves and upon returning home these tokens were pressed in books, placed in vases, or laid out for immediate intervention. Using on-hand art supplies, I began exploring ways to transform the foliage through repairing tears, matching and re-imagining colours, and other such experimentations. These instinctual and meditative explorations gave me time to reflect on the experience of mothering during a period filled with unease, when time bent, stood still, and stretched in unfamiliar ways. I was altered by the act of care-giving during this time and those I provide support to were also affected. It led me to consider how the balance of self-care and giving of oneself is fundamentally tied to communication.” Jennifer explains that the project began with her daughters. “My idea was that we were going to collect leaves and use old art supplies to mend them. The girls lasted maybe 30 seconds and walked away,” she jests. While her daughters weren’t as enthused about the project, it allowed Jennifer to consider “what happens when you’re care-giving, and what’s the effect of your care-giving on someone else.” For her, the pandemic’s disruption of daily life opened up space to meditate on the transformative capacity of care-giving, and family life. "Through a Feminist lens, I work with constructed narratives that are inspired by the quiet moments in women’s lives where seemingly nothing (and everything) occurs ." “I think it’s interesting being a photographer,” Jennifer says, "documenting your family, and being aware that what you’re documenting can shift the way your children remember their experiences.” For Jennifer, her photos also capture the tactility of memory. “Gravel on legs after a fall, or the hair on the back—those are the sort of details that I come back to. It’s small details. I never come back to the whole story.” It’s these sensory experiences that feel most special to her as a parent, and not the major life moments that you’d expect. “Something amazing could have happened and all I’ll remember is ‘[my daughter] had a skinned knee that day.’” "I am especially interested in the complex emotions that underlie these mundane points in time. Themes of vulnerability, growth, and community are explored within my practice as I examine daily life and my rituals within it." Sometimes she finds herself in periods where she’s documenting her family life very actively. Other times, she will take snapshots of quick moments. In other situations, her work is based on “something I’ve snapped on my phone and then I get the girls to recreate it with me later.” It's clear that Jennifer’s images are made (and remade) in conversation with those she cares for; the photographs aren’t something she takes of her family, but are instead made with them, again echoing themes of motherhood, care-giving, and transformation. “It changes… how they relate, the dynamic with each other, and with you,” Peppa comments. Peppa notes, “I think it’s really important for daughters to see that you can work creatively in tandem with care-giving. You don’t have to forego your identity entirely for the family.” “That’s a huge point,” says Jennifer. “One of the things I did find a lot during the pandemic [was that] it was very clear what my husband did for a living. Whereas I would be seen simply shifting through photos. I found I had to be very clear [in] articulating, this is my work, this is what I do, you just can’t always see it.” Find Jennifer Long's work featured in our Winter 2022/23 issue, BOTANICALS. Enjoyed this free read?!  Consider supporting us! JOIN US AS A PATRON   • SUBSCRIBE FOR PRINT DELIVERY   • READ our digital editions   • Make a donation

In Possible Lands pairs superimposed photographs of landscapes — one image captured 45 years ago by the artist’s father, and the other a present-day image taken by Annie Briard at the same location—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. Annie Briard | In Possible Lands IV 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? Annie Briard | In Possible Lands I "Three slide projectors blend, at random, slides from my father’s archive. Photographs taken during his travels across Canada 45 years ago working on the railway, and my own slides from my own visits to the same locations. A newly formed image is composed by chance and then re-photographed offering prescient insights into our future lands as they transform from our shifting climate." Annie Briard | In Possible Lands III 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 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. Annie Briard | In Possible Lands II 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. Installation at Art Souterrain festival 2021 in Montreal. Annie 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. She is represented by Monica Reyes Gallery in Vancouver. anniebriard.com Annie Briard's | In Possible Lands featured on the cover of our ECO ISSUE Enjoyed this free read?!  Consider supporting us! JOIN US AS A PATRON   • SUBSCRIBE FOR PRINT DELIVERY   • READ our digital editions   • Make a donation

On any given spring or summer day, you will find Rocio Graham playing in the dirt. Coming from a Mexican family that grows food and flowers, including uncles who grow watermelons, beans, and other vegetables for exportation to the US and Canada, it was truly only a matter of time before Rocio went back to her roots in terms of working with the land. She feels she has always been very connected to the landscape and that it connects her to her home, and defines her identity. In 2002, a move to Canada from Mexico meant that Graham had to reacquaint herself with growing flowers and plants in a much harsher environment. She started to pay attention to the shifts of the seasons and observe the microclimates in her backyard. In 2013 after the rigorous family canning season, Graham started the painful process of mourning her garden. Late September in Calgary means the luscious greens that once graced the landscape become a tangled, brown, decaying mess. It was around this time that the idea of “canning” her flowers as a way to preserve them inspired her to think about ways to further immortalize the lifecycle of the garden. The question arose: What if, instead of fighting the cycles of nature, she could surrender to their power? That year, Graham started to freeze her flowers to preserve them so she could revisit them whenever she wanted, to be reworked and incorporated into her art along with other organic matter. Foraging within the boundaries of her home, she began to play with different combinations of compost and discarded organic materials from her home, both of food and flowers. The following year, Graham’s gardening became more sophisticated as she desired a larger variety of things to forage. New plants, seeds, and heirloom varieties were introduced. She planted flower seeds according to their textures, colours and shapes. Another mode of research put into place was the comparison of her work to famed historical artists who also used the garden as inspiration: Claude Monet, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jan De Heem, Rachel Ruysch, and other Dutch still-life masters. Aesthetically, the dramatic lighting of these still-life works seemed more appropriate to mourn the loss of the fertile garden at season’s end, but Graham soon discovered that her emotions were coming from a deeper level. Digging in the mud will unearth worms and other unexpected creatures, and in the same way, digging deeper emotionally brought to light enormous parallels between nature’s cycles and Graham’s inner garden. The inner landscape shifts and ebbs with the seasons, and as a trauma survivor, the bouts of PTSD Graham experiences are unearthed and reclaimed through gardening and art. The savage nature of still-life fits the underlying tones of her work in that the rawness of life, the flourishing and the decay, can mix together to reflect the contradictions and tensions of life and the remnants of post-traumatic stress. Feeling disconnected to her body in these moments led her to search for ways to reconnect with it, and for Graham, gardening and its labour-intensive qualities allow her to feel grounded and to access the landscape in a cathartic way. Her work is infused with metaphor and reflection and every aspect of her compositions transpires a deep intention. Her rigorous meditative art practice allows her to not only connect to the land, but ultimately, to herself. Rocio Graham is a multidisciplinary #canadianartist🇨🇦 and the driving force behind @santa.rosa.arts.and.healing See more of Rocio's work:   rociograhamstudio.com   Enjoyed this free read?!  Consider supporting us! JOIN US AS A PATRON   • SUBSCRIBE FOR PRINT DELIVERY   • READ our digital editions   • Make a donation #womeninphotography #AlbertaPhotographer #stilllifephotography #naturephotography #lightingtechniques #fineartphotography #photoart #canadianphotography