SASKATOON -- The Remai Modern museum will be showcasing award-winning photographer Thelma Pepper’s work at a new exhibition.
Pepper died in December at 100-years-old but her life and work isn’t being forgotten. Her son, Gordon Pepper, says the heart of her success came from her love of people, trying to find their stories and find out where they were from.
Pepper was known for her photos of elderly women and rural women from small towns in the province, wanting to turn the lens and put a spotlight on lesser known people. She would speak to her subjects for hours, wanting to build a relationship and recording it all on cassette tapes.
People will be able to hear the recordings of her interviews at the exhibition as well.
“These people would feel so relaxed and have this trust with my mom that they would kind of open up their lives in a way visually,” Gordon said.
“Mom was able to capture that in her work.”
Pepper got into photography early in life. Born in Nova Scotia, her father taught her how to use a dark room to process photos on film. She later moved to Saskatoon with her husband and revisited the hobby in her 60s when her four children grew up and left home.
“She just went to town taking thousands and thousands of pictures and printing all her own pictures in our family dark room in Saskatoon,” Gordon said.
Sandra Fraser, curator collectives at Remai Modern, says the idea for an exhibit took place with Pepper three years ago. While she isn’t here today to watch it come to life, her spirit will continue to live on in her work.
“Seeing these photos of these really strong women and getting to know a bit more about their life and the impact that they made.” Fraser said.
She also photographed women at the Sherbrooke Community Centre and new comers at the Open Door Society.
“Thelma Pepper: Ordinary Women. A Retrospective highlights” will be open to the public on Saturday and runs until Aug. 15.
“My mom I think will have a long lasting legacy in this province, she was an amazing person,” Gordon says.
“It’s very painful for us to know she won’t be there but she’d be happy.”
