Hutterite photo exhibition on at Esplanade
By COLLIN GALLANT on March 9, 2024.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com
Tim Smith says the chance to photograph life on Hutterite colonies in Manitoba was an initially an “antidote” to the hurried grind of shooting for a daily newspaper.
But what was to be a year-long side project has now lasted since 2008 and still produces rich portraits of rural life that few outside the colonies in Western Canada have seen.
“You see them in stores and in town, but there’s still a bit of mystery or secrecy about their day to day lives in their communities,” said Smith, in Medicine Hat on Friday as his exhibition at the Esplanade is set to conclude this weekend.
“People who visit the exhibitions tend to have a lot of curiosity and a lot of the time their own assumptions. My goal is to challenge some of those assumptions and show as broad and nuanced portrayal of Hutterite life as I possibly can.
“It’s to introduce people to the work and provide .
“In the World but Not of It,” a collection of 41 large photographs detailing daily rural life, past times, and portraits concludes a four-month exhibit at the Esplanade main gallery this weekend.
Smith, who worked in Medicine Hat for the News in 2003 and 2004, has since worked for the Brandon Sun as a photojournalist. He will remain in town however to complete a one-month residency before returning to newspaper work this spring.
The show is set to travel to Helsinki this summer then festivals in Greece and Italy next fall.
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