SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Easter weekend marks the opening of a new exhibit at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Love, the Land, showcases the work of Hay River photographer Adam Hill. It opens tomorrow and runs until November.
Hay River photographer Adam Hill takes a picture of the Northern lights near Point Lake about 300 kilometres north of Yellowknife. Hill's exhibit – entitled Love, the Land – opens this weekend at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. - Adam Hill photo |
Hill, 36, who came to the North from Cape Breton, N.S. about eight years ago, has a day job as a community library literacy co-ordinator for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. He said he started to teach himself to take pictures about 15 years ago.
"I grew up outdoors and started bringing a camera along to show people where I'd been," Hill said.
"This exhibit is a collection of my photographs that I have taken throughout the territories over the past several years."
Hill said some of the photographs also show man-made influences in the territory but it is primarily a nature exhibit.
He said that he called the exhibit "Love, the Land" after giving it a lot of thought and then putting out a call out on social media where a woman suggested the title.
"It's a double meaning for me. I've had a great relationship with the land and this is kind of a letter from the land to me," Hill said.
"If you just read it literally, the message there is to love the land and take care of it."
Hill said there are 33 photos in the exhibit. One of the challenges was to whittle down to 33 the thousands of photos he has taken that could have been used, he said. He added his interpretation of a given photo might be different than that of the public.
"I approached the museum about two years ago for this. They loved the idea and helped me curate my hundreds upon thousands of photographs," Hill said. "I wasn't sure which ones to show. As a photographer you are biased towards your own work. They helped me choose more public-friendly photographs."
Tomorrow, Hill is going to take people on what's being called a photography adventure walk.
"If the weather is good we'll take a photo walk around Frame Lake and talk about photography, techniques I use and gear I use," Hill said.
"We'll do a little impromptu workshop and talk about whatever people want to talk about."
Hill said he has held about 10 exhibits previously in NWT and Cape Breton. This is the first one he has hosted at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.
"I'm extremely proud. This is the pinnacle of my photographic career," Hill said.
He added that another highlight for him came last year when the Royal Canadian Mint chose his photo to replicate on a $10 commemorative coin. He said the coin will be on display at his exhibit as well.
