IN CONVERSATION WITH CRAIG D’ARVILLE
CAST YOUR MIND BACK TO 2020 and, if you dare, recollect how you spent your time during the lockdown days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some artists chose to focus on studio-based practices, while more rebellious types, such as Rita Leistner, went out into the world, masked and under the cover of darkness, with camera in hand. Renowned for her work in photojournalism and projects such as Forest for the Trees, Toronto-based photographer Rita Leistner, succumbed to the restlessness of lockdown along with her friend and collaborator, filmmaker Don McKellar.
Together they created an astonishing series of photographs that are in turns playful, poignant, nearly feral, and experimental. The result is Infinite Distance - Nocturnal Pandemic Urban Dreams. Curious to know more, I invited Rita to talk about these collaborative compositions.
CRAIG:
What was the genesis of Infinite Distance - Nocturnal Pandemic Urban Dreams that brought you and Don McKellar, a film director, screenwriter, and actor, together?
RITA:
We’d been friends for decades and we were neighbours at the time. It began with me bemoaning my purposelessness as a portrait artist in a world under lockdown where I wasn’t allowed to go near anyone with my camera. I was paying close attention to the photography being made in the early days of the pandemic. There were a lot of haunting photographs of abandoned public spaces around the world. But Don knew I wasn’t interested in wandering
the city alone and (wanting to get in on the adventure) he volunteered to be my photographic subject. I thought over his proposition and called him the next day: “Sure, let’s do it, but guess
what Don? I’m going to give you a camera too!”
CRAIG:
There are expressionistic, cinematic elements and a ritualistic playfulness happening in these compositions, all complemented by long exposures and an experimental use of light. How did the conceptual approach you and Don came up with come about?
RITA:
At first, we went out at night to encounter fewer people, because we were afraid of contracting COVID-19. Later, it was for artistic reasons too. We could create a surreal, edgier, more apocalyptic world where we were the only two people left. Darkness was a condition for our lighting with flash and long exposures and the mysterious dream-like effects we sought to create for our fantastical worlds — magical spaces, underworlds, and mythological allusions (Orpheus and Eurydice), etc. — and painterly qualities — especially those associated with German Romanticism (“After Friedrich”) and depictions of saints and martyrs (“After Sebastianus Patron Saint Of Plagues”). It was also more fun and rebellious to be out at night: our private defiance against the virus. We shot in black and white because I couldn’t bring myself to think in colour, which I associated with my photography in the “before times.” Incidentally, I have not shot in colour since, despite being a “colour photographer” for most of my career. Lately, I’ve been sketching portraits in charcoal.
CRAIG:
How did you settle on the sites where you chose to make these photos?
RITA:
We made a list of locations that were iconic Toronto, but also where green intersected with concrete, the way nature was encroaching on built-up urban spaces. Among them were the
Bloor Street Viaduct, St. James’ Cemetery and Crematorium, the Don River (not by accident, the principal settings of Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion), the railway tracks on Dupont, Ontario Place, and Toronto Island, which we especially loved because we were able to incorporate fires and canoeing in the canals into our narratives.
CRAIG:
In these photos, the two of you sometimes seem like a couple of naughty kids. Was it intentional to convey a sense of urgency and adventure through these compositions?
RITA:
This project would never have happened if Don and I didn’t really like hanging out and having fun together. We were trapped in the city, but at night we experienced this extraordinary freedom and feeling of lawlessness in the empty spaces we explored. We
were seizing the day! We did feel a real sense of urgency as artmakers too, because it was important to us to make something of this historic time. As time went on, we got naughtier and darker. We took to calling our alter egos “He” and “She,” and “They.” Theirs is a complicated relationship and, yeah, They were definitely up to no good.
CRAIG:
Is this the first time you’ve collaborated with another artist? Moving forward, how do you think collaborative work will influence your practice?
RITA:
This was a unique situation created by the circumstances of the pandemic. Co-directing often doesn’t work, but with Don and me, we both enjoyed directing and being directed by each other. I think the success of Infinite Distance would be hard to repeat. Don was a fantastically cooperative muse and artistic partner in a sparse, depressing time. But in general, I’m not really drawn to collaboration. The lines of creation become too blurred.
CRAIG:
What’s next for you?
RITA:
Recently, my dad fell and hit his head on the sidewalk. He spent a month in the hospital, and I was there almost every night as part of his care team. He’s doing better today, but has a long,
uncertain road of recovery ahead. My father’s accident changed my priorities, and it’s hard to think beyond the moment. But trauma is a catalyst for art. We never could have imagined Infinite Distance outside the pandemic. Likely, what’s next for me will be related to what I’m experiencing now.
Craig D’Arville is co-owner, along with Stephen Bulger, of FFOTO.com, an
online platform that offers photo-based works by established artists, and is an
incubator for emerging talent.
Rita Leistner is represented by Stephen Bulger Gallery, with select works
available via FFOTO.com.
Don McKellar is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor.
Enjoyed this free read?!
Consider supporting us!
As the ONLY independent editorial photography publication in Canada we'd love your support to continue producing great content for you to enjoy!
Comments