Alberta photographer braves frigid storms to capture the beauty of Canadian winters
Most people want to stay indoors when temperatures drop to -30, but that’s the picture-perfect condition, literally, for Angela Boehm.
She made a rule to only go out to take pictures of Canadian prairie landscapes when things plunged to -30C, inspiring the title of her new book: Minus 30.
“It has to be -30C or colder because that environment really does look different than when it’s -10C,” she said.
It was a discovery born out of frustration while the award-winning photographer was sitting in traffic during a cold winter day.
“I was thinking to myself and grumbling that I’m a photographer that lives in a part of the world that is winter eight months of the year and I have so little time to photograph. But then I really looked at it and I went, ‘Oh my goodness, this is absolutely beautiful, and it’s been in front of me this whole time, this ice-cold environment.’”
Since that moment several years ago, Boehm has been undeterred by the weather, braving frigid conditions and storms in Alberta and Saskatchewan to capture winter in the prairies.
“So many talk about it being harsh and brutal, but really I started to see it as delicate and fragile,” she said. “Snow breaks when you walk on it, ice is fragile water, and really is there anything as delicate as a snowflake?”
However, the project also tested Boehm physically and mentally.
When the temperatures plunged, she would travel dangerous highways and head into storms alone.
“Staying warm was quite a challenge because if I had my camera out in the cold I couldn’t come back into my vehicle and warm up. Once it got cold, it had to stay cold otherwise, the camera would fog up. So, it didn’t matter if it was -40 out I had to keep the windows open in my vehicle,” she said.
“Try as you might, you can’t take a picture with a glove on or a mitten, it has to be your bare finger on the button so that was a challenge.”
The artist took comfort in her familiarity with the Prairie winters, having grown up in Saskatchewan, but the project also turned into an exploration of grief and resilience.
Boehm lost both of her younger brothers and her mother to different accidents in the past and was surprised to find a connection to them and a solitude in the wintry season.
“It was born out of grief,” she said. “So, that’s really what the work really became about is the softening of memory over time. How in this environment the concrete edges are softened by the snow-blowing fields and it seemed like a metaphor for time and memory and how our memory softens over time.”
She hopes the book will help transform people’s views of winter and hopes it will help preserve prairie winters for future generations, including her own children.
“It’s so beautiful to be out in that, and I know it’s hard to believe, but there are so few places left in the world where you can be completely alone and it’s completely, truly silent.”
The Calgary launch of Minus 30 takes place Saturday, Dec. 7, at 1:00 p.m. at the Franz Dopf Gallery in Kensington.
It is also available online through Hartmann Books and angelaboehm.ca.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Police have found a backpack carried by gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO
Investigators found a backpack in Central Park that was carried by the shooter, police said Friday, following a massive sweep to find it in a vast area with lakes and ponds, meadows, playgrounds and a densely wooded section called 'The Ramble.'
Quebec premier wants to ban praying in public
Premier François Legault took advantage of the last day of the parliamentary session on Friday to announce to 'Islamists' that he will 'fight' for Quebec values and possibly use the notwithstanding clause to ban prayer in public places such as parks.
NDP's Singh forces debate on $250 cheques for more Canadians; Conservatives cut it short
With the fate of the federal government's promised $250 cheques for 18.7 million workers hanging in the balance, the NDP forced a debate Friday on a motion pushing for the prime minister to expand eligibility. The conversation was cut short, though, by Conservative MPs' interventions.
A police photographer recounts the harrowing day of the Polytechnique massacre
Montreal crime scene photographer Harold Rosenberg witnessed a lot of horror over his thirty years on the job, though nothing of the magnitude of what he captured with his lens at the Polytechnique on December 6, 1989. He described the day of the Montreal massacre to CTV Quebec Bureau Chief Genevieve Beauchemin.
Purolator, UPS pause shipments from couriers amid Canada Post strike
Purolator and UPS have paused shipments from some courier companies as they try to work through a deluge of deliveries brought on by the Canada Post strike.
Northern Ontario man sentenced for killing his dog
WARNING: This article contains graphic details of animal abuse which may be upsetting to some readers. A 40-year-old northern Ontario man is avoiding prison after pleading guilty to killing his dog earlier this year.
Sask. father who kept daughter from mom to prevent COVID-19 vaccine free from additional prison time
Michael Gordon Jackson, the Saskatchewan father who withheld his then seven-year-old daughter from her mom for nearly 100 days to prevent the girl from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, was handed a 12-month prison sentence and 200 days probation on Friday, but credited with time served.
Health Canada says daily cannabis use hasn't changed much since legalization
Health Canada says daily cannabis use has remained stable since it was legalized in 2018.
Ticketmaster hidden fees settlement credits expected in 2025 following class-action lawsuit by Regina lawyer
A longstanding lawsuit against Ticketmaster is nearing its end, with a judge expected to approve the more than $6 million dollar settlement before the end of the year.