Social Studies

2019 - Present

Social Studies is a series of colour photographs of landscapes from across the territories now known as Canada. Emerging from research into the fur trade, these images reflect the interrelationship between land and resources.

An emphasis is placed on paths, routes and waterways, as well as settler-created boundaries which permanently altered Indigenous Nations in the creation of settler states. The photographs are full of human traces but lack actual human presence, which reflects the erasure of Indigenous peoples and histories from many of these territories. These images aim to eschew art historical notions of the “beautiful” or “wild” landscape, and instead show a sense of the continuity of the land and ongoing narratives and conflicts.