Stories from the Shadows, a photo and writing exhibit by former editor of The Free Press, Phil McLachlan, celebrated its debut night on January 30.
Community members steadily streamed through the door of The Arts Station for opening night as McLachlan greeted them all warmly and invited them to take a look around the room. McLachlan’s favourite photos from his three years with The Free Press were blown up and hung on the walls, with the stories that accompany them printed around as if to frame the interesting faces of the various Elk Valley residents.
Although McLachlan said he had a hard time deciding on which stories to include in his exhibit, in the end they all have one common thread tying them together. The articles on display at The Arts Station are all very inspiring stories about notable people in the community.
The smiling face of Marsha Bradcoe, a transgender woman from Elkford, beamed off the page beside a group photo of firefighters and the headline “More than one kind of hero.” Local reverend Andrea Brennan fairly jumped out of her photograph, wearing minister’s robes underneath a bright rainbow, tie-dye dress. One article in the exhibit featured local author Kevin Allen, who attended the exhibit opening and reminisced with McLachlan about the article.
All in all, 10 people and their stories were on display, with an added feature of photos that McLachlan took for The Free Press’ Then and Now calendar project in 2018.
“The stories that I chose, I think were very important and influential to the community,” McLachlan said. “The photos and subjects I’ve chosen are very influential people or have been, and I think it’s important to highlight that in a small town, and it kind of highlights the importance of small town journalism.”
The exhibit will be showing at The Arts Station through February 26.
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