Saskatchewan is a muse for Calgary-based photographer

George Webber has been travelling to Saskatchewan during the summer to capture its beauty for more than 30 years, this year being the one exception. 

In those three-plus decades of road tripping, the Calgary-based photographer has fallen in love with this province. His photography shows it.

Webber has just released a new book of his photography called Saskatchewan Book - Photographs by George Webber.

He has taught at the Southern Alberta Institute of Techology (SAIT) and has been the in-house photographer there for 25 years. He also works as a freelance photographer and is therefore never far from his camera.

Webber's new book features documentary photography. It captures architecture, landscapes and signage from some very out-of-the-way places, including some that are nearly ghost towns.

He said there's an implied narrative when you look at these small towns on the prairies.

"You see the aspirations in this architecture, and you get little insights and clues to the character of the place."

He added that there is something compelling about seeing something that is about to disappear.  

"You can't hold onto things, but there is this seductive quality when it comes to photography that makes you think you can hold onto things just a little bit longer," he said.

Photography literally means writing with light. The word is believed to have been coined by British scientist Sir John Herschel in 1839 by combining the Greek words "phos," meaning light, and "graphê," meaning written word. That idea is not lost on Webber.

He makes these images in a deliberately simple way, using natural light and normal lenses. He said this best replicates normal human vision.

"There is extraordinary light in Saskatchewan," he said. "It's beautiful and powerful and I use it to capture what is in front of the camera, and honour it by not doing much in the way of editing or changing."

The book, which showcases several hundred of Webber's photographs, also includes an essay by Saskatchewan writer and poet Lorna Crozier.

"The word that describes such a focus, no matter what it's called on any map, is home. When you arrive, it will be everything you've tried so hard to remember and everything you've tried with some sadness to forget,"  Crozier wrote in the essay.

In an interview on The Afternoon Edition, Fiona Odlum asked Webber if he'll still come back to Saskatchewan now that the book showcasing 30 years of photographs has been published.

"It will be the first thing I do once COVID is behind us," Webber said. "Right after a good restaurant meal and a vaccination."