Badlands of Southern Alberta

Photographs by George Webber RCA

 


Video Portrait of George Webber - HOPE from CITY TV

 

Near Drumheller, AB by George Webber ©

Near Drumheller, AB 1982

I was born in the small coal mining community of Drumheller Alberta in the early 1950s. The surrounding landscape, the Alberta badlands, have always held a powerful fascination for me.

Dinosaur Provincial Park, AB 1984 by George Webber ©

Dinosaur Provincial Park, AB 1984

I photographed the harsh landscape extensively in the mid 1980s.

Dinosaur Provincial Park, AB 1983 by George Webber ©

Dinosaur Provincial Park, AB 1983

Black and white infrared film vividly recorded the textures and striations of the place. The dramatically contrasty and grainy film produced searingly surreal pictures. The badlands have been carved out of the prairies by receding glaciers to reveal a prehistoric land born of volcanoes in the vast tropical delta that once was southern Alberta.

Dinosaur Provincial Park, AB 1983 by George Webber ©

Dinosaur Provincial Park, AB 1983

The photographs were made with a Canon F1 fitted with a 24 mm lens and hand printed on fibre base paper in a traditional darkroom. Prints are included in the permanent collections of many Canadian and international museums.

 

 

George Webber’s photography springs from his fascination with the people and landscape of the Canadian west. His books include People of The Blood, A World Within and Requiem. He is the recipient of numerous National Magazine Awards. His photographs are found in the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, The Australian National Gallery and France’s Bibliotheque Nationale. He teaches photography at The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and The Alberta College of Art and Design.

George Webber Photography
403.282.9228
E-mail: gwphoto@telus.net
Web site: www.georgewebber.ca