What does it mean to be a 'recovering photographer'?
Nancy Friedland's startling photo-like paintings capture something her camera never could
Chris Hampton · CBC News · Posted: Feb 21, 2024 4:27 PM EST
Over two decades, Nancy Friedland built her career in art as a photographer. She was represented by a respected Toronto gallerist, she won grants and her work attracted collectors. Then, suddenly, she found she couldn't take another picture — not as art, at least.
Her photography was always "clever" and conceptual, she says, like a traditional portrait series where potted plants assumed the role of the sitter. But when Friedland embarked on a rather personal, and therefore, uncharacteristic photo project about her family — positioning them as the stars of her own sky — something shifted inside of her.
"It just felt so much better to say something directly than the wink and nudge of my earlier practice," she says. "Once I found that genuine connection with my work, I just wanted to take it even further … [Photography] was like a completed journey."
