The Observer, Sarnia, April 30, 2005

Larry Towell: no compromises:
Working in Black and White Film in a Digital World

(excerpt)

By Paul Morden, Arts & Entertainment Reporter

	Larry Towell, "Durango Colony, Durango, Mexico", Gelatin Silver Print, 1994, 16 x 20 in. ©Larry Towell/Magnum Photos SHETLAND -- Larry Towell is a unconventional photographer who doesn't think of himself that way. His photographs of people living, and often struggling, in Central America, Palestine and other parts of the world have earned Towell respect and acclaim around the globe, but he's happy living in a renovated farmhouse along the Sydenham River. He takes his time, getting to know the people and communities he photographs on black and white film. He travels selectively and seasonally; staying home in the summer when his kids are out of school and he can work in the garden. He doesn't do corporate photography and he doesn't teach. He hasn't converted to digital equipment so he can e-mail news photographs to newspapers on the spot. He hasn't left behind the challenging life as a documentary photographer for the world of fine art studio work. "People tell me it's unconventional," Towell said, "but when you're in the middle of it, you don't think of it that way. His colleagues may live in places like New York and Paris, but Towell prefers his farm in Dawn-Euphemia Township. Towell grew up on a farm in St. Clair Township and studied visual art at York University. A trip to war-torn Nicaragua with a human rights delegation in the 1980s led him to work as a freelance photographer. That in turn lead him to Magnum, the exclusive and prestigious co-operative photo agency started in 1947 by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa. Long periods of time spent in central America, with the Palestinians in the Middle East and traveling back and forth between Mexico and Ontario with migrant Mennonite farmers, produced photographs for several books and a long list of awards, including the Paris-based Henri Cartier-Bresson prize in 2003. "I'm doing it all from this little farmhouse, and it's worked," Towell said. "I'm 51 years old now and I've just figured it out." Recently, Towell was in Paris for the opening of an exhibition of his work that was part of the Cartier-Bresson prize. It was also a launch for his latest book of photographs from Palestine, No Man's Land. On May 6, he will be attending an opening and book-signing closer to home at the Michael Gibson Gallery on Carling Street in London. The exhibition Projects includes images from his work in New York on September 11, El Salvador and in Mennonite communities. "And," Towell added, "how they lose their identities when they lose their land."... Illustration: • Photo: Photo by Larry Towell/ Magnum Photos / This photograph, taken at the Mennonite Durango Colony in Mexico, is one of several included in Projects, a exhibition by Lambton County's Larry Towell running May 6 to 28 at the Michael Gibson Gallery in London. On May 6, 8 p.m., Towell will be at the gallery signing copies of his new book, No Man's Land, and celebrating the release of his new compact disc, The Dark Years.

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