Until Sept. 3, the Chapel Gallery in North Battleford is hosting a digital photograph and video presentation entitled Exploring North Battleford at 100.
A reception Thursday, Aug. 22 attended by upwards of 50 people saw patrons discovering familiar scenes and faces through the lenses of two professional photographers and a videographer/journalist. They also discovered views of the city they might not have seen just that way before. Exploring North Battleford at 100 consists of a video, four panoramic images of nine feet in length each, 24 27" x 40" photographs and a digital photographic presentation.
Response at the reception was excellent, said the City of North Battleford's curator and manager of galleries, Leah Garven. The reception, which ran from 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. was an informal affair and visitors were able to talk with two of the three exhibition artists, photographer Stuart Kasdorf and videographer Tara Yolan, both of Saskatoon. Photographer Douglas Rarog, who lives in British Columbia, was unable to attend.
The attendance at the reception was as high as any reception ever held at the Chapel Gallery, said Garven, who was pleased with the turnout, especially since it was being held during the summer.
About 80 per cent of the exhibition had been on display in the Windows Salon of the Chapel Gallery until the Prairie Excellence Show came down Aug. 13. Then the photos from the Windows Salon, plus the larger pieces and the video presentation were set up in the main gallery.
After Sept. 3, some of the pieces will go on display at Crandleberry's on 100th Street, and there may be other venues lined up as well. Parts or all of the exhibition could be on display somewhere in North Battleford for the rest of the centennial year.
There are reprints of the exhibition pieces for sale, and the project may eventually pay for itself, but it was hatched from a common wish to take on a joint artistic venture for purely personal gratification. That wish led Kasdorf and fellow photographer, Douglas Rarog to North Battleford, since their intention was to photograph a community they weren't familiar with. The centennial committee and City Hall were entirely supportive of their venture, but the project was financed by the artists themselves, with the exception of an equipment loan.
"The thrill of finding cool locations, and meeting many local heroes was very rewarding," says Kasdorf in the exhibition brochure.
Bringing Saskatoon journalist/videographer Tara Yolan on board added another dimension to the project.
Videographer Yolan said she got involved when Kasdorf approached her saying "we have this really good idea."
She decided to get involved and, last summer, they spent three days walking around the city with all their equipment in "amazingly hot" weather.
"My gosh! It was intense," says Yolan. "We had our gear and we basically just pushed it around the city."
Yolan said she didn't know what to expect when she got into it, but it turned out better than she thought.
"It was fabulous," she said. "We met some really interesting characters.
As a former reporter with CTV in Saskatoon, Yolan had been out to North Battleford numerous times, but this was a different kind of experience.
Her video is a "mix of many things. Everything came together nicely."
The editing of the video took place while she had a number of other projects going on as well.
"I worked at it over the six months, anytime I had some free time," she said.
She had about four hours of original footage. She said, it probably took three or four days just to pick out the pieces she would use in the final edit.
She's happy the video has been received well, because as an outsider looking in, there's always the fear of getting it wrong, she said.
The artists have created a collection of Exploring North Battleford at 100 with small items starting at $20, up to the large panoramic vistas at $1,600. Information is available at their website www.exploringnorthbattlefordat100.com.
