Seeing the Wind - Prairie Photographic Project

Summer Photo Project/Holiday was mid July to mid August 2021 Finally the covid cases were starting to go down and the masks could come off and we had a respite of normal living again. I cherish the time to visit my parents in my hometown of Ponteix, Saskatchewan - a place in the middle of nowhere and inconvenient to get to from any of the modern big Canadian cities. You either have to drive the long journey and possible face loose stones from the highway in your windshield or a plastered windshield and front of vehicle with grasshopper and bug guts, which when parked, attract wasps. Or, you may get through without incident, but it is a long drive into a very, very quite slowly dwindling town, like so many other communities across the prairies. As agricultural technology and economics has changed, so has the human landscape upon the prairies, but this is a whole topic in itself and partly what makes my documentation work worthwhile - at least I hope it will be of some value to some orgainsation or institution at some point (hopefully before I die). The other method to reach this little settlement is to fly into (a) Regina (the capital city) and rent a vehicle for the three hour drive or (b) fly into Calgary and rent a car for the six hour drive. However you look at it, it requires considerable effort and purpose to reach a little prairie settlement. But I don't mind the travel, to me there is always a lot to see and places to stop and photograph along the way. As we finally drove into the backyard by my dad's shop, stopped the engine and stepped out of the Ruby (what we call our red coloured Tuscon SUV), I was greeted by a sound I cherish, I longed for all year - SILENCE. These little prairie towns, villages, hamlets, are so quiet and its such a blessing to be able to listen to silence and to walk in the middle of a main street and set up camera gear to "get the shot!" - but I don't recommend this - always practice safety first! I was meaning to spend time outdoors under the night sky to really see deeply into the heavens, but pounding heat and smoke pollution from where massive amounts of trees flourish, really put a damper on the visit. The skies most day were simply white - the blue with intermittent fluffy white clouds I was hoping for never materialised, so I did what any prairie boy would do - I made due with just what I had. Sure there was some sunlight shining through the odd time and some bits of blue sky, but nothing like I was hoping for ESPECIALLY in the evenings. Oh the prairie mornings and evenings present some of the best lighting situations in Canada. But try as i might, set up and wait ... another evening dud! Make due, make due. On the other hand, there was no shortage of wonderful scenery that told a partial story, so many partial stories that lack the pioneers or people to fill in the gaps. The first Tuesday we were there I drove about an hour and a bit east into Assiniboine to see the Shurniak Gallery and was impressed with such a professional calibre gallery in such a small place. I think what almost brought tears to my eyes was to see up close, un-inhibited authentic works by some of the members of the Group of Seven. What initally brought me to the gallery was to see if I could get a show there at some point next year. Wednesday, off to Saskatoon to see the new rRemai Modern art gallery and specifically the Thelma Pepper (1920-2020) exhibition. Although she was exposed to photography thanks to her father and grand-father when she was a young girl, her photographic career never took off until she was 60 years old! She has become a noted Canadian photographer in those last 40 years and I was blessed to have the author of the Thelma Pepper book tour me through the exhibition and sign a copy for me (the second one I purchased). It is such a big and wonderful gallery for the city and the arts community of Saskatchewan. That evening was spent at dinner with an old friend and his family, then I visited a bit with my brother who let me spend the night at his place and off to photograph more places on my way back to Ponteix. I had five cameras with me and used them all: Toyo 45 AII, Mamiya C330 Pro S, Mamiya 645 Pro TL, Nikon FM2n and my lovely Canon FTb QL. I worked with ILFORD FP4 plus in 120, Rollei IR in 120, Kentmere 100, Orwo NP12 & Acros in 135 and Provia in 120 and 4x5 sheet film and finally two rolls of EIR that ruined my E6 chemistry when I went to develop them. Seems that E6 is not was not the only way to process slide film back in the day. If I had looked closely at the cassette I would have read E-4 PROCESS. What is E-4??? Anyway, those two precious rolls of Ektachrome infrared - gone. Now with a new kit mixed and ready to go I've got all 16 rolls of 120 Provia to process along with some sheet film. Most of the black and white has already been done, processed in HC-110(b) I brought 16 rolls of 120 and used it all along with the Rollei IR film - seven rolls of 120. There wasn't so much black & white as it is usually colour that I focus on when working the prairie landscapes. During the last few days of my Saskatchewan visit, I discovered an old school/church building just 10 Km south of Cadillac called the Little Six, why I don't know, but it proved to be an interesting area photographically and one I hope to revisit in the future. The #4 highway going south of Cadillac towards the U.S. border sure is a nice drive. Here is a little blurb about my time at the Little Six.
It was an overcast day and as the drops of rain began to fall, I was worried of a significant down pour ... but it never happened, so I kept on working. When I first discovered this site, these were the first images that I was drawn to and from this like the ripples in a pond, I proceeded outward and discovered more and more as if to see the wind.
Here are a few iPhone snaps ...