What Time is This Place? : Sylvia Galbratih | Contact Photo Festival | Main Gallery Exhibition

Drawing the title from a book of the same name by Kevin Lynch, this body of work by Ontario photographer Sylvia Galbraith examines deep-rooted connections between people and their places of origin within the context of displacement, resettlement and renewal. She is particularly interested in relationships between buildings and people as part of an ever-changing and necessary historical process; through her work she considers their physical locations - why were they placed just so, or why was one view chosen over another? -  and their evolution through time as shaped by their inhabitants. 

This exhibition comprises an on-going body of work begun during recent residencies in Newfoundland. Using camera obscura and pinhole techniques in buildings located in rural outports, Galbraith darkens individual rooms to allow only a tiny quantity of light into a space, essentially turning the space into a large camera.  Exterior scenes appear inside the rooms and wander across inside walls; the sun rising over the sea reflects onto a bookshelf, and buildings are duplicated inside neighbouring structures.  By recording these views over extended periods of time – throughout the day, and in varying weather and lighting conditions – she connects the built environment with exterior views that have remained constant over time, conceptualizing the notion of within/without, terms that are inseparable in the minds of those who depend on the land and sea for sustenance, regardless of what village or country they might live in.  

Working in small houses, churches, a luxury resort and others, Galbraith’s photographs describe how a building, while often reflecting social differences or human history,  also witnesses the incremental situational changes brought about by the relentless progression of time within a location.