Story

I had started my journey as a landscape, urbex and still life photographer in Terrace, British Columbia for the first two years. The Terrace and Prince Rupert areas held unlimited inspiration for myself. I then returned to the Cariboo – Chilcotin region to find this drier region seemed less diverse and more difficult for myself to hold the same interest as I once had in the Northwest. I really enjoyed building my skills as a new photographer and I decided it was important to pivot to keep my passion alive. 

Story started as an exercise to become more comfortable shooting portraits and begin understanding how to shoot video for its ability to tell a deeper story. Approaching strangers to ask them if they want to take part in the project also seemed like a difficult task to overcome at the time.

Dolly Madsen accidentally became my first participant while I was repairing a computer for her daughter. Her story was unique and fascinating and I really enjoyed my time with her. I posted “Hello Dolly – Part One” on Facebook and was surprised at how many people connected with her story. She called me that morning to thank me for sharing it, having people hear her story meant so much to Dolly. On March 15th, 2017 Dolly passed away. It made me understand the importance of hearing peoples stories, everyone has one. I do regret not getting the stories of my own family members who have also passed on, but I didn’t really understand recording these moment until this project. I have a giant box of photo’s and negatives from a family member with no answers.

I still have unwritten content that I collected for this project that may still see the light of day. But this project really became a positive catalyst in to the work I continue to do today and have learned to enjoy.