Vera Saltzman’s exhibition ‘hope has its hush’ opens at Slate Fine Art Gallery on Thursday, May 23, with a reception from 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., and runs until Sunday June 23. Come enjoy Saltzman’s photography, as it “depicts the beauty and peace found in Saskatchewan’s landscape, while entreating us to consider our responsibility to the land.“

Artist Statement

Since moving to southern Saskatchewan, I have used my photography practice to help me find a “sense of place” or belonging. Along the way my heart has been opened to welcome a relationship I never expected: one with the land itself.

In this exhibition “hope has its hush” I have included images that, for me, convey an emotional sense of the peace and wonderment found in the inherent beauty of this land. American photographer Robert Adams suggests that the beauty of nature can instill in us “the silence of light”.

But as I wandered with my camera, I also witnessed the ravages inflicted on the land in the name of “progress”. In contrast to images celebrating the beauty of the land, I found myself making images to question if I, and others, have been clinging to a nostalgic view of Saskatchewan.

If we are interwoven with this fragile land, as I now believe we are, how can we not be concerned for its welfare and for all the other beings who call it home? Robert Adam’s book, American Silence, referenced this line from a Theodore Roethke poem, “hope has its hush”. I love that line: it asks us to care.

Through the quiet of my images, I offer an invitation to slow down, to pause in thoughtful introspection and consider the future: How we can live on and care for this land with respect and reciprocity.

May this contemplative approach open minds, and form a bridge to carry the “silence of beauty” into our hearts, to find our way to a more thoughtful existence, one that includes a reverence for this land.