Sarah Ciurysek

Really great work here: 

http://www.sarahciurysek.com/

©Sarah Ciurysek

I graduated with Sarah at Emily Carr University in 2003. We both completed a BFA with a Photography Major at the school. I am continually inspired by her work and how she talks about relationship to landscape.

Scouts Hall

Scouts Hall, Banff. 2012

This building serves as the meeting place for the Scouts groups in Banff. Built sometime in the 1950s, the frame of the building is actually a barn. The land was donated by the Catholic Church.

Transient

6 days

I've been thinking about the practice of observing my surroundings over time. In Banff I've been doing this by documenting my regular walks around town: to work, to the studio, etc. When I was at Hollyhock this spring, one of the things I decided to do was take one picture a day out the window of my bedroom. I had an amazing view of the ocean and I spent a lot of time just looking out that window. In any case, I felt it was an interesting study to see how the landscape changed from day to day. I tried to set up roughly the same view each time I took a picture. I'm interested in the relationships built with places through the ritual of continued visitation. Meditations on place.

Wanderings

My Morning Walk

Thinking of a couple of things with this post. First off- the name for the post is inspired by Ernie Kroeger's book My Morning Walk, which chronicles a historical and present-day meander around the city of Kamloops. Ernie and I talked about it the last time I was in Kamloops, when I ran into him at Cowboy Coffee. In any case, Ernie used to live in Banff and used to be the Photography Facilitator at The Banff Centre so this all seems to connect to this picture I took on my morning walk to work last week. I guess it feels common enough for those of us that live in Banff - a deer at close range eating grass- however, there was something kind of interesting about this moment for me. Maybe it was the fact that this particular animal walked alongside me for about 5 minutes and wasn't frightened by my close proximity or the sound of my camera. Maybe it was the fact that I actually stopped to be amazed at the fact that this is commonplace for me? How bizarre.

Work in Progress

Morning, Banff

Lonely Hearts Left Behind

Banff is a transient town, with a constant flow of seasonal workers mixed in with the people who consider themselves local. I have a dumpster outside my apartment building that has supplied me with the odd lawn chair and objects I'm convinced I will use in some sort of 'art' project. It's also an interesting microcasm of the vibe of the town. These two images were taken in the last two weeks. The heart I found on a Saturday morning, the t.v and tree suggest remnants of Christmas circa 1982. Somehow they seem to paint an accurate portrait of Banff.

Hollyhock, 2010

Cortes Island

Tea

From the vaults...pictures of tea taken on my 23rd birthday. My roommate's friend had a business selling tea and I hung out and drank tea for a few hours.