麻豆传媒AV

For the month of February, the Chapel Gallery in North Battleford is celebrating the inaugural Saskatchewan Prairie Light Photography Festival, which in the future will run annually in March.

The festival is a province-wide celebration of all things photography. The initiative has been spearheaded by the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery in Yorkton and is inspired by other festivals in Montreal and Calgary.

As part of the prelude to the Prairie Light Festival, the Chapel Gallery is presenting With Out Limits, an open exhibition featuring the Battlefords Photography Club from Feb. 7 to March 2 in the Windows Salon.

Visitors are invited to celebrate the landscapes and horizons of the beautiful Battlefords through the photographs of the Battlefords Photography Club. Members will be showcasing their best works, without boundaries of a frame size and "With Out Limits" of a theme or criteria. On display will be some of the club's all time favourites and some new surprises. There will be an exhibition reception Tuesday, Feb. 11 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Many of the photographers will be in attendance and visitors may also have a photo taken for their Valentine. It will also be a chance to learn more about becoming a Battlefords Photography Club member.

Refreshments will be served and admission will be free, although donations are always appreciated.

The Chapel Gallery is just one of the many art galleries and photographers across Saskatchewan organizing Canada's first province-wide photography event. The first communities to organize simultaneous exhibitions and celebrations of photography have been Yorkton, Prince Albert, Swift Current, Regina, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw.

The Saskatchewan Prairie Light Photography Festival is inspired by the success of Montreal's Le Mois de la Photo, Toronto's ScotiaBank Contact and Calgary's Exposure festivals.

Saskatchewan Prairie Light adopts the model of month-long, simultaneous exhibitions of photography in a variety of venues, and in all genres. Each participating venue curates and schedules its own programming. Openings, workshops, panel discussions and artist talks are locally determined in response to their audience and programming needs.