Alberta Noir

The Alberta prairie in Canada is a vast, often lonely and, at times, inhospitable environment with dramatic weather. However, it has a unique beauty and has been a source of transformation, solace and reflection in my transition from stressful working life to landscape photographer. Where I used to often fly over this region en route to client meetings, I now drive my old Toyota truck over the gravel prairie roads in search of inspiring subjects. Where I only saw glimpses of the surface from a window seat, I now have time to notice and appreciate small details. These photographs are a selection from an ongoing series I have come to call “Alberta Noir”: scenes that are surreal, , humorous, ironic, incongruous and sometimes just plain strange which have captured my attention while crisscrossing these prairie side roads. Locations that also show the quiet intersection between the man-made and the natural environment that is so common in an environment of such vast nature but which is also dotted with farms and ranches and lined by miles and miles of fences. These images will be printed using a combination of modern digital colour and historical platinum-palladium techniques in a very limited edition. The images submitted attempt to capture the essence of those handmade prints to come. In addition, rather than implement a dark treatment, as the word “noir” commonly suggests, I have attempted to communicate a bit of lightness to these scenes which is more consistent the quirky nature of these scenes and with my experiences in this land.