University of Alberta professor Colleen Skidmore has spent most of her career researching the history of Canadian photography from the 19th and 20th century, with a particular interest in women’s photographic practices in front of and behind the camera’s lense.
After moving to Alberta in the 1990s, Skidmore dove into women’s photographic work in the Rocky Mountains, spending months with her nose buried in archives. Eventually in 2006, Skidmore published This Wild Spirit: Women in the Rocky Mountains of Canada.
The book explores women’s creative responses to their experiences in Canada’s famous mountain terrain, including their writing, photographs and paintings, among other artist expressions.
After the book’s release, excerpts from Skidmore’s book were put on display at the University of Alberta’s FAB gallery. Now that the book is going into its third printing, Skidmore felt another exhibit was in order.
Until Sept. 5, pieces from This Wild Spirit: Women in the Rocky Mountains of Canada will be on display at the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives.
“One of the roles as a university professor is to share knowledge as widely as possible so an exhibition seemed like a really great way to do that,” said Skidmore, adding that due to limited space she was only able to set up about a quarter of the original exhibit in Jasper. “There was a lot so it was really challenging to decide what to showcase, but I think I kept the key pieces.”
Along with the major highlights, Skidmore also said she handpicked selections linked to Jasper. Specifically taking an in depth look at locals Mary Schäffer and Suzette Swift.
The exhibit explains that during the early 20th century Schäffer was a prominent female photographer, explorer and author in the Canadian Rockies. In Shäffer’s 1911 book Old Indian Trails, she writes about her experiences meeting other working women. In one section of Shäffer’s book she talks at length about Swift, who spent many of her evenings by candlelight, finely crafting gloves, moccasins and coats out of animal skin.
According to the exhibit, Schäffer’s photographs and stories epitomize the wild spirit that infused so many women in the Rockies. Skidmore said the popularity of Schäffer’s publications and the extensive archive of her photographs and manuscripts have combined to make her life and work the most widely studied among Rocky Mountain women.
“Those two are the two big ones. They really show how many women were actually active in the Rocky Mountains during that time,” Skidmore said. “Women’s history is often invisible, but these women show the energy, ambition and excitement that women brought to their work at that time.”
Next summer, Skidmore will release a book exclusively looking at Shäffer’s work and adventures throughout Jasper.
“The first time I came to Jasper I stumbled across Shäffer’s name and the more I read about her the more I realized what an impact women had around here,” Skidmore said. “The more information I had I just wanted to share.
“I hope people leave the exhibit with more of an understanding about women’s history in the Rockies.”
This Wild Spirit: Women in the Rocky Mountains of Canada will be on display until Sept. 5 at the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
