Cameras have been snapping all around town as local photographers were busy preparing for their display at the Okotoks Art Gallery at the Station.
Two new photography-driven exhibits opened at the gallery April 1 including a student exhibition in the small gallery titled “A Day in Okotoks”. The large gallery will be playing host to a Sheep River Photography collection of pictures from the husband and wife team of Anne and Mark Durocher-Weston.
Okotoks Cultural and Historical education specialist Jan Robinson is heading up the student display, which is back for a second year. She said there has been change in the format of the project for 2011.
“Last year it was totally photography but we opened it up this year so the kids can submit any kind of art they want as long as it’s based on the theme ‘A Day in Okotoks,’” she said. “We’re hoping we’ll get other forms of art media but I expect it will be mostly photos again.”
As was the case previously, the student gallery show was preceded by a workshop where professional photographers schooled children and teens on the fundamentals of taking interesting pictures.
What’s different this time, Robinson said, is the manner in which the title theme was applied.
“Last year we picked one day where all the kids went out and took photographs,” she said. “Then they chose the ones they wanted to submit and we put in a certain number per student. This year we broadened it so the theme is still ‘A Day in Okotoks’ but it can be any day.”
Patrons seeing the show, which runs through May 6, are being asked to participate in a people’s choice portion of the show Robinson said.
“We want them to choose their favourite photos in three age categories,” she explained. “The local Okotoks Arts Council is then going to provide scholarships to six kids.”
Depending on their age group the top two vote-getters in each category will either get to attend an art camp in Okotoks or at Red Deer College this summer.
Okotoks residents, the Durocher-Westons, will require no summer photo camps, as they are already highly proficient at capturing the world around them.
The married couple, which moved from England to Canada in 2007, like to point their cameras at the same types of subjects Anne explained.
“We enjoy shooting the same things,” she said. “You’ve got your landscapes and you can’t forget all the wildlife around here.”
Mark said they really like to document images truly indicative of this part of the country.
“We like the western themed kind of stuff,” he said. “We’re in Kananaskis Country quite a lot along Highway 40 when it’s open in the summertime. We really like to shoot in that area.”
What people will see most in their upcoming Sheep River Photography gallery show are photos from in and around Okotoks.
Mark explained he has a special affinity for one shot of the iconic stone, known as a glacial erratic, between Okotoks and Black Diamond.
“My favourite piece is one we got of the Big Rock,” he said. “We’ve got two pictures going in the show of it but there’s one with a colourful sunset I really like.”
The Okotoks Art Gallery at the Station on North Railway Street is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday though Saturday excluding statutory holidays.
