A Photographic Record of Life in the Okanagan   

Valley 2000 Project Coordinator, Fern Helfand speaks about the exhibition and the artists. Other speakers included: (background from left to right) Councilor Sharon Shepard, Interim Director Dona Moore and President of the Board  Rick Dowding.

This Millennium project was inspired by photographer and educator Douglas Oehmsen Clark who in 1980 collected an archive of photographs in Alberta to mark the province's 75th anniversary. Tragically, he passed away unexpectedly in the initial planning stages of the project. But with the encouragement of Margaret Dryden, then Director of the Kelowna Art Gallery, the project continued and was brought to fruition.

Rather than relying on stock images of idyllic landscapes and sunny beaches, we sought images with a more personal perspective. We took three different approaches to image making. Four artist-photographers were commissioned to express their experience of the Valley through documentary-style work.

For the second segment of the exhibition we  asked photographers to explore the area and submit portfolios to a jury. Fourteen submissions were chosen. Ten of these are displayed here. Please visit the Alternator Gallery at 273 Bernard Ave. to see the rest of the exhibition until February 22.  

The final and largest portion of the show consists of approximately 500 snapshots and written commentaries sent in by the public. We appealed to people who live in the Okanagan to submit snapshots that captured something important about their lives in the valley. These pictures are now part of a permanent archive that will be available for research and study in the future.  

The snapshot is a cultural artifact that can be created, possessed and treasured by anyone. It is hard to imagine life without them. Each one tells a story and preserves a moment in someone's life. Not only does the activity, clothing and environment in the picture speak of a certain time and situation, but the photograph itself comments on the technology of the day. Just as the posed black-and-white studio photographs or cartes des visites so common at the turn of the last century speak to us of their time, so too will today's seemingly ordinary snapshots. Produced by our own hands and processed in an hour while we shop, they will tell our stories at the turn of the next century.

Click below to view the works

[Invited Artists] [Juried Works] [Snapshots]

For more information, visit the

Official Valley 2000 Website

The Kelowna Art Gallery would like to thank the following sponsors:

  Alternator Gallery

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