By Kerry Benjoe, Leader-Post
REGINA — The Internet has helped a Swift Current photographer share her images of rural Saskatchewan with Australia.
Mindy McGreggor gave her first solo show in Sydney on Friday. However, it remains business as usual in her home in Swift Current.
“One day I would like to be able to attend one of my shows,” said McGreggor who’s a stay-at-home mother.
She said the curator of her Sydney show has been really great about sharing information with her about how well her work has been received. So far it’s been very positive and McGreggor is hoping for more shows in the near future.
This is not the first time the Saskatchewan photographer had her work shown internationally.
“A lot of times it’s hard to break through (locally),” explained McGreggor.
She is a member of the Inter Northern Photography Group. Soon after joining Red Bubble, an online artist group (www.redbubble.com), she was contacted by Andrew Lay, an art curator.
McGreggor admitted that at first she was skeptical when Lay asked if she was interested in submitting some of her photographs for a show that would feature her and some other artists. She agreed and last year her work appeared in three shows in Melbourne, Australia.
The 30 photographs in the Sydney exhibit are mainly images from southern Saskatchewan, because McGreggor loves to capture bits and pieces of province’s history.
She prefers black and white imagery over coloured photos and in her Sydney show, only one was in colour.
“Black and white photos can capture the mood of a photo better,” she said.” You can show the past through pictures.”
McGreggor enjoys photographing old farm structures, buildings, abandoned rural houses and landscapes because they “tell a story about the past.”
She has always had an interest in art and first began as a painter. However, she was never able to capture the images she wanted with paint. Then about nine years ago she discovered photography and is now rarely without a camera.
“It enables me to express myself,” she said, about her new medium.
McGreggor said it’s a “great feeling” to know that people in another part of the world enjoy her art.
She would welcome an opportunity to showcase her works locally, but until then she’s happy that she’s found an appreciative audience.
kbenjoe@leaderpost.canwest.com
Mindy McGregor 