March 3 – April 30, 2016 at the Minto Arts Gallery

Artist Reception & Talk: March 5, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m

Don’t miss Main Streets & Memories, an incredible exhibit of black and white photography showcasing “small town Ontario” by Sylvia Galbraith.

The exhibit shows a connection between the past and the present, how things have changed, but also how history seems to repeat itself in daily life.

palmerston sylvia galbraith

Artist’s Statement

This exhibition represents a personal celebration of sorts, and a return to an earlier style for me – 30 years ago, I chose photography as my art form and as my profession.  I found the limitations of working with a camera inspired and challenged me more than any other art form.  The possibility of capturing those elusive changes in lighting, or that slight change in expression is what appealed to me then, and what drives me now.  I am never without a camera, and everything around me is viewed with a photograph in mind, always.

My earliest work was typically documentary in style, and with this collection, I feel I have come full circle – back to photographing people and places, back to simply observing daily life through a lens, with very little input on events as they unfold.

When viewed as a whole, “Main Streets & Memories” shows a connection between the past and the present, how things have changed, but also how history seems to repeat itself in daily life.  It establishes a sense of the differences between the individual towns, but also shows similarities that are typical of “small town Ontario”.

This has been a wonderful project for me on a personal level.  In most cases, I had never actually spent time in these towns, but simply driven through on my way to “somewhere else”. I was astonished at the quality of the architecture and the obvious care that went into the design and construction of these original buildings.  All of the people I met in my travels were passionate about, and proud of their communities and history, and they have had a strong impact on this exhibition in some way.

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