Gordon Hiebert – Local Landscapes

To get a real sense of Alberta’s prairies, you need look no further than Gordon Hiebert’s dramatic landscapes. His collection of panoramic photographs captures the stirring prairie skies, the excitable changes and grandeurs of the weather, with the still remnants of abandoned homesteads, and that charming character old buildings, grain elevators and vehicles have as they grow old gracefully. You can almost feel the spirit and drama of what has been of the land, as laying farm equipment decays under lush greenery.

For Gordon, the emotions that come across in his prints represent what is in his own spirit. “I have a sense of history as I go exploring, although I am not specifically trying to create historical records, but the history draws me in. I can feel it in the soil and in the artifacts. At times at an empty corral I have touched the ground and felt the pounding of hooves and heard the lowing of many cattle even though there is nothing around but an abandoned farm.”

All of my work up until 2013 was film. In 2012 and 2013 I converted all of my images to digital because color chemical darkroom equipment was no longer available. I now have a digital darkroom.” Gord had always mixed his own chemicals and developed his own film and prints, using the Kodak darkroom process. “I have endeavoured to refine the digital process to give me the same results as the chemical process did. The same wonderful look and feel that are my roots.”

Article supplied by artist with permission of the former Motion Gallery in Red Deer

SCENE NEXT – You can catch a glimpse of Gordon’s work at the Spirit of Sylvan Yuletide Festival November 30 and December 1 at the Sylvan Lake NexSource Center. He will also be at the Blackfalds Christmas Market December 10-11 at the Abbey Center. If you can’t make it to these events, Gordon welcomes you to see his private home gallery. Call Gordon at 403 877 1556 to schedule a private viewing.