By Melissa Smalley
Internationally acclaimed photographer Michael Bednar knows true beauty when he sees it.
Having travelled the world over the past two decades as a travel and documentary photographer, Bednar has sought out unique and eye-catching subjects and locales.
So when it came time for him to find a region in British Columbia to call home, he says the Cariboo was an easy choice.
“I’ve always gravitated towards this area. It’s really central – I can access the north, I can access the Chilcotin, I can be in Jasper in six hours or down to Vancouver to catch a flight.
“I’ve just always really liked it here,” the 108 Mile Ranch 108 Mile Ranch resident explains.
Bednar first became interested in photography while working in remote areas of northern B.C. as a forestry, fisheries and wildlife natural resource technologist.
“I got to go to places that most people would never set foot. It’s so remote, and you’re surrounded by beauty all the time.
So I just started picking up a camera and doing it as a hobby, documenting what I was seeing and where I was going.”
Upon receiving a diploma in photography from the Western Academy of Photography in Victoria, Bednar spent three years as a newspaper photographer in Alberta, before branching out on his own as a freelancer.
For more than a decade, he has worked for magazines, commercial organizations and non-profits around the world.
“A lot of the work that I do is with people and our connection to our environment.”
While his photography has taken him to the far reaches of the globe, Bednar cites his time spent shooting in Mongolia as one of the pinnacles of his career.
Mongolia really encompassed what I feel about people’s connection to the environment, he says, adding there is the “stark beauty” of the east Asian country.
“People are bound to the land around them because they live off it.”
The work in Mongolia earned Bednar several awards and accolades, including International Photo Awards, People Photographer of the Year award, and Asian Geographic’s Best Photojournalism of the Decade award.
He will be one of several artists participating in the Studio 2 Studio tour at 108 Mile Ranch on Sept. 10, in support of the South Cariboo Health Foundation (SCHF).
The self-guided tour offers participants the chance to visit artists and purchase work, with 25 per cent of proceeds donated to the SCHF.
Bednar says he will be featuring some of his international work, but will also have plenty of pieces focusing on the Cariboo and other regions of the province. He also hopes to have some brand new work “fresh off the press” featuring work in the Fraser Canyon.
To find out more about the art tour, call 250-706-2101.
