My Hometown: Bearing Down and Getting By
This summer I spent two months documenting my hometown, Wallaceburg, Ontario, for Canadian Geographic. This month they are featuring the 9 page photo essay. See it HERE Thanks to all the residents who let me spend time photographing them. This is a lifelong project for me, and I feel it serves as a microcosm for all small towns.
You can also see a link to a photo club interview HERE
Canada, France, India…
This week marks my last week of shooting the project on my hometown, Wallaceburg(pop.11,000) for Canadian Geographic. It’s truly been an amazing summer documenting the community I spent the first 18 years of my life in. From turtle hunting to childbirth, this summer has provided me with non-stop reminders of why I became a photographer in the first place. People are amazing, and experiencing different stages and moments alongside them is truly a gift.
This weekend I head to Toronto for a few days, then it’s off to Visa Pour L’Image in Perpignan, France, before heading back to India where I will begin an assignment for an NGO immediately in the south. Lots of excitement to come, so stay tuned!
Back to Canada -with a purpose
In less than a month, I’ll be experiencing some serious reverse culture shock when
I head back to Canada for a dream assignment, of sorts.
I’m heading back in June to spend a couple months in Canada, and in particular, in my hometown Wallaceburg, Ontario, where I’ll be on assignment documenting the town during a time of recession for Canadian Geographic.
Things have come oddly full circle for me. My very first project as a photojournalist was to document my town of about 11,000 in a 24 hour time period with a group of photographers back in my early high school days.
I have to say, I’m really looking forward to this opportunity, and returning to live temporarily in a town that I’ve spent the last decade trying to run away from:)
I’m a bit nervous about documenting the people and the town that I know, and spent 18 years in, but very excited to return home, hang with my parents, and re-coop from six months on the road. I plan to return to India to continue to work on a book project on Kashmir’s Half Widows, which is currently in progress, then take it from there.
