KNOW THEIR NAMES - QUICK FACTS

We feel it’s about time that these photographers of CONTEMPORARY note were acknowledged, and their names become known to every Canadian photo-nerd!

Here are a few people we think you should know, and some QUICK facts as to WHY...

(Consider this an incomplete cheat-sheet, in no particular order)

BARBARA ASTMAN

IS KNOWN FOR:

Self-portraits + red objects
But, more then that, a very long list of national and international exhibitions, publications, and installations of her work.
She's a professor at OCAD U
She's in our encyclopedia!

LYNNE COHEN

IS KNOWN FOR:

BIG pictures of weird empty places
Awards include, the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts + the inaugural Scotiabank Photography Award.
Tones of international exhibitions + books and stuff. Too long to list...

MORE ABOUT LYNNE - HERE

JUNE CLARK

IS KNOWN FOR:

Deeply personal and poetic mixed media photo-based artwork.
Her work often refers to growing up in Harlem, and often integrates her street photography.
A national and international reputation with a life-long list of exhibitions and work in collections, including the AGO, and National Gallery of Canada.

RUTH KAPLAN

IS KNOWN FOR:

Naked people bathing! and years worth of gently documenting people's daily lives.
Lots of exhibitions and publications listed on her CV + she shares her talents as an educator in Toronto as well.
Represented by Stephen Bulger Gallery

SEE MORE - HERE.

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DINA GOLDSTEIN

IS KNOWN FOR:

Staged pop surrealist photographs that challenge societal myths. Fallen princess', Barbie dolls, and American presidents feature.
Dina's list of feature exhibitions is longer than all the Disney Princess movies combined.
Check her out on CBC
READ MORE about her HERE.

NAOMI HARRIS

IS KNOWN FOR:

Photographing real people in all their quirky glory.
Book projects: Haddon Hall Hotel; America Swings; and E.U.S.A.
Road-trips and adventures, including canoeing for 70 days, wearing a 19th century period costume.
Her super-cute side-kick, rescue dog Maggie.
SEE MORE - HERE.

LAURA JONES

IS KNOWN FOR:

Founding the FIRST photography gallery in Canada. Her space also welcomed and encouraged women to use her darkroom at a time when darkrooms were not accessible to women in Toronto.
She documented her life in Toronto, and in the US, always with a lens towards equity and civil rights.
Her images from the1968 Poor People's Campaign (PPC), a mass demonstration that followed after the death of Martin Luther King, are hosted in numerous museums and galleries internationally.
She organised the first photo exhibition in Canada, BY women.
She now focus' on researching the work of women in Canadian photo history lost or neglected in archives.

LAURENCE PHILOMENE

IS KNOWN FOR:

Extreme colour
A non-binary transgender artist coming of age amid the rise of social media.
Laurence's work has been published and exhibited internationally, and Laurence presented at the 2019 Cannes Lyons festival.
FOLLOW Laurence - HERE.

DANA CLAXTON

IS KNOWN FOR:

Beautifully crafted studio shots that reference Indigenous history, culture, beauty and spirituality.
Hunkpapa Lakota filmmaker, photographer, and performance artist.
Winner of the 2020 Governor General's Award + the Scotiabank Photography Award.

SANDRA BREWSTER

IS KNOWN FOR:

The 'Blur' series
She has been recognized for her community-based practice that centres around Black presence in Canada.
She's in our encyclopedia!

SEE MORE HERE.

JIN-ME YOON

IS KNOWN FOR:

'Souvenirs of the Self' series of self-portraits, where she places herself at well-known tourist hot spots.
South Korean-born internationally active she uses performance, photography and video to explore themes of identity as it relates to citizenship, culture, ethnicity, gender, history, nationhood and sexuality.

SEE MORE - HERE.

LORRAINE GILBERT

IS KNOWN FOR:

Her work focus' on landscape and raising questions about the social and economic aspects of land and nature.
She won the Karsh Award in 2003 for her commitment to artistic excellence in photo-based art.
She has been teaching art and photography for the past 25 years, and is currently the Director of the Visual Arts Department at the University of Ottawa.

SEE MORE - HERE.

DIANA THORNEYCROFT

IS KNOWN FOR:

Playing with toys to create hilarious and sometimes dark dioramas such as the "Group of Seven Awkward Moments" series.
She has exhibited, lectured, and been published extensively at home and abroad.
She is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2016 Manitoba Arts Award of Distinction.

SEE MORE - HERE.

ANGELA GRAUERHOLTZ

IS KNOWN FOR:

Big prints and large installation work, often blurry, always a captivating dream
She is the winner of the Scotiabank Photography Award and a Governor General Award in Visual and Media Arts.

SEE MORE - HERE.

CLARA GUTSCHE

IS KNOWN FOR:

Nuns! and use of a view camera to explore personal relationships and the cultural values of Quebec.
She teaches Studio Arts at Concordia, and she was a founding member of the artist-run Powerhouse Gallery.

SEE MORE - HERE.

RITA LEISTNER

IS KNOWN FOR:

Working in extreme conditions—including alongside soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, female patients at psychiatric hospitals, with First Nations communities in the Arctic, women wrestlers in the US, and loggers in Canada—exploring themes of purpose, struggle, and belonging.
Her tree planters mega-project - exhibitions, media, an experimental documentary feature film, and book with a Foreword by filmmaker Don McKellar.

SEE MORE - HERE.