A local photographer will be showcasing a project featuring photographs of community members from across the East Kootenay at a gala on Monday, April 23, at Soulfood starting at 7:30 pm.
Ashlee Perreault, who recently started up her photography business — Ashlee Dawn Photography — has spent the last few months chronicling subjects from across the region as part of a project through the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance and the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT).
The exhibit — Mountains of Personality — was entirely pitched by Perreault, who designed and sent out surveys through websites, email and social media to gather feedback and nominations for her photo subjects.
Her vision was to have the region identify people who give back to the community and represent the Kootenay heritage, lifestyle and way of living.
“I’ve lived in seven different countries; I’ve lived over in Newfoundland, I’ve lived in Alberta, I’ve lived in BC; travelled all over the place, family in Ontario. We have an amazing country and it’s an amazing world, but it’s an amazing country,” Perreault said.
“There was something about driving through the tunnel near Fernie, seeing Fisher Peak, going through all the turns near Moyie…going through all that and you’re home, all of the sudden.
“…This whole area is just amazing and it kind of started to showcase who we are. What is the East Kootenay? That’s why I included places and animals and whatever our weird personalities are in the East Kootenay.”
Perreault then waded through the flood of responses for nominees and set out contacting ones that met the project requirements to see if they’d be willing to be interviewed and photographed.
“I had to reach out to a lot of people and say, ‘Please don’t hang up on me, I don’t need your money, I don’t need anything, please listen to what I have to say,’” she laughed.
The end result of that process was nearly 50 photographs of subjects from around the region who were photographed in various settings that they were comfortable with.
For example, one photograph of Jim Cameron, a local musician, author and historian, was set in his dining room with his cat in his lap, a guitar on a stand in the background and a sentimental painting on the wall.
Another photo is a portrait of Juanita Eugene, a member of the ?aq’am community who is leaning on a fence post in a field, wearing a colourful hat and watching her horses.
“What I ended up doing was coming up with six random questions…instead of me just showing up and taking their picture, I showed up and talked to them, found out about them and then took their picture,” Perreault said.
The exhibit will be on display at Soulfood from April 22-28th, with a Kimberley Gala set for May 10th at the Green Door in the Platzl. The exhibit will then be displayed at the Snowdrift Cafe from May 11-17th.
For more information, visit Perreault’s website at www.ashleedawnphotography.ca