Join acclaimed photo-based artist Christine Fitzgerald as she discusses her unique approach working with historical photographic technologies, and her collaborative work with The River Institute (Cornwall, ON) photographing species at risk. Christine will speak about her work-in-progress series Last Light, in advance of her free public workshop sponsored by Ocean Week Canada at The River Institute in July (date to be confirmed) teaching participants how to create their own photograms using light sensitive paper.  The images from Last Light are cloaked in deepest blue, referencing cyanotype printing popular in the 19th century as a low-cost reprography technology (“blueprints”), and in our time, the diminishing capacity for completely dark night sky in the face of human industry and climate change.

Christine’s deep blue twilight heralds our precarious moment between the “deep” time of our world, and the advancing effects of the Anthropocene age. Her images are formed from her meticulous resuscitation and mastery of obsolete photographic techniques, creating new hybrid modes of seeing entwining wet plate collodion camerawork, specialized printing techniques such as pigmented gum bichromate, and platinotypes.

Christine’s work is centered on the exploration of our relationship with the natural world with underlying themes of time, precarity, and loss, and the role that photography plays in shaping human experience with these universal aspects of life.  In her July workshop at The River Institute, participants will create photographs from the most basic elements on earth – water from the Saint-Lawrence River, light from the sun and minerals from the land for the light-sensitive emulsion used. Several cyanotypes will be created by placing botanical and other specimens directly onto the surface of paper that will be coated with an environmentally safe light-sensitive emulsion. An attempt will be made to construct a photo-based photographic collage that depicts specimens representing the key health indicators of the river’s ecosystem (riverrapport.ca). The resulting images will be arranged as a large-scale collage and installed on a wall to review and discuss in the context of conservation efforts.

About the Artist: 

Christine Fitzgerald holds degrees from Acadia and Dalhousie and studied at the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa. Her images are produced intuitively, often using large format cameras and antique lenses, integrating historical photographic printing processes with modern technology. Christine has won numerous awards, including the 2016 International Fine Art Photographer of the Year from the Lucie Foundation in New York City and a 2017 International Julia Margaret Cameron award. 

Her photographs of American eels from the Cornwall area were recently featured in The Washington Post.

Additional links of interest: 

• https://www.christinefitzgeraldphotography.com
• https://riverinstitute.ca

Participating partner: The River Institute (Cornwall, ON)

Contact: Ocean Week Canada Curator: Melissa Rombout melba@melbavivendi.com