Reave Dennison: Tree Work

Reave Dennison is a photographer and silver gelatin printmaker who documents maritime and forestry labour in the Pacific Northwest. Tree Work presents a selection of new black-and-white photographs that Dennison took while working as a beachcomber, sawyer, and arborist over the past five years. The images portray the environments, people, material culture, and technical craft of these disciplines. Dennison focuses his camera on the conditions he works in, so that he can shoot candidly and intimately. Forestry is a primary industry in British Columbia, comprising hundreds of responsibilities and skill sets. Yet there is relatively little familiarity with the roles these people play in the economy, or the impact that shifting political, ecological, and technological conditions have on the social fabric of the province.

During the exhibition, Pale Fire will also release Dennison’s first photography book, Under 60 Tons. Co-designed and co-produced with Information Office, the book features over 160 images that Dennison took while working as a crew member aboard small, versatile tugboats, which are classified as “under 60 gross tons.” These boats are being retired by companies in favour of larger, more streamlined vessels to comply with the tightening of Transport Canada regulations. Dennison’s photographs capture crew members who navigate marine machinery, infrastructure, and the elements, including hands-on chart work, compass work, and manual labour. Many of these skills and duties are being rendered obsolete by technology. Dennison observes and reflects on this industrial and cultural transition.

Under 60 tons is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council, John & Helen O’Brian, Jane Irwin & Ross Hill, and Claudia Beck.

Please note the gallery is wheelchair accessible, but the washroom is not.