Collections

Winter

Surviving the Great Canadian Winter

Having grown up in a colder Canadian climate, snow is not foreign to me. However, the winters I spent on Manitoulin Island were a completely different experience. The snow is cleaner and whiter than it is in the city. Landscapes become transformed into magical snowscapes with variations in tonality. The earth seems to be at rest, taking a temporary hiatus from the business of work during spring, summer, and fall. There is a quietness, a restfulness, to this deep, cold, Canadian beauty.

My winters on Manitoulin Island forced me to spend more time indoors, however, on many occasions, I braved cold conditions to capture the beauty of the land. I was fascinated by the shapes created by ice on the lakes, and the cool colour palette found in snow and ice. Winter carries an elegant and sombre kind of beauty. Some days were as cold as -40C. In my old Ford Taurus, I would drive on winter roads, set up my tripod, capture images, and then rush back to the car to warm my frozen fingers on the inadequate vents on the dashboard, before venturing out again to capture the fading light of dusk on the coldest days of winter.