Through the Lens Captures the Bow Valley's Next Generation
- whytemuseum
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
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By Kate Riordon, Reference Archivist
With the rise of spring in the Bow Valley, student participants of the wildly popular photography program Through the Lens were getting ready to see their work on the walls of The Whyte’s Founders Gallery.
A Program Rooted in the Bow Valley
Originally founded by The Whyte in 1997 by then-Curator of Photography, Craig Richards, the Through the Lens program teaches students from Banff, Canmore, and Mînî Thnî (Morley) the art and science of film photography. Led by Richards annually until his retirement from The Whyte in 2017, the program followed a five-month structure that equipped students with their own 35mm film cameras and set them loose to see how they would capture their worlds. At the end of the instruction period, the students’ photos were professionally printed in Calgary at what is now the Alberta University of the Arts, framed, and hung in a curated exhibition at The Whyte.
Revived in 2024 by former participants Nic Latulippe and Soloman Chiniquay, today’s students are still using the analog cameras to explore this almost entirely digital age. Of this year’s program, Latulippe and Chiniquay said that their favourite part of Through the Lens is getting to see the world through the teenage perspective, including "what they think is interesting, funny, or just simply important to capture in a photograph." A sentiment all the more potent when each click of the shutter means no do-overs.
Film in a Digital World
While photography has always been a tool for storytelling, the way those stories are told has changed drastically since this program first started. At the turn of the millennium, digital cameras were quickly outpacing film cameras, granting people the ability to take as many photos as they wanted without fear of ruining or wasting precious film. Early social media sites in the 2000s became flooded with digital albums of hundreds of photos taken in a single afternoon, capturing every movement from every possible angle. Often blurry, poorly exposed, or completely out of focus, the amount of visual material being created was staggering, and there was room for all of it. To be a teenager in possession of a digital camera during this time was an enthusiastic display of excess.
Meanwhile, analogue photography continued to persist; quietly and dedicatedly fostered in the Bow Valley communities by passionate and curious students, instructed by professional photographers who understood the artistic merits of film.
A Record-Breaking Year
This year, 48 students, under the guidance of Latulippe and Chiniquay, shot 10,800 photographs on 450 rolls of 35mm film – a record-breaking output from Through the Lens participants. Also new this year, thanks in large part to funding graciously provided by the Wim & Nancy Pauw Foundation, more classes were offered, allowing students to learn different photographic styles and spend more time in the darkroom.
While more funding allows for more film, it doesn’t change the core teachings of Through the Lens: intention, patience, and technique. In a digital world of rapid-fire shutter speeds and as many photos as you can fit on a memory card, Latulippe and Chiniquay are teaching students how to find the perfect photo. To look at the world around them – their families and friends, their pets, wildlife, the landscape, themselves – and intentionally choose the moment to preserve on film.
Through the Lens Tells a Visual Story of the Bow Valley
As a program, Through the Lens has created an extensive visual story of the Bow Valley as seen through its youth. Housed in The Whyte’s vault long after they come off the gallery walls, these photographs capture the people, places, feelings, and moments most important to these young artists year after year. We’re grateful to Nic and Soloman for reviving this incredibly important community arts program and for carrying it forward to today’s students, who continue to show year after year an ongoing enthusiasm for and dedication to the art of analogue photography.
Photo Gallery of the private exhibition opening for Through the Lens, June 5, 2026.
Join us in congratulating this year’s Through the Lens participants on their exhibition pieces, on display in The Whyte’s Founders Gallery, which opened June 5, 2026.
This program is generously supported by the Wim & Nancy Pauw Foundation.
Experience It for Yourself
Don’t miss your chance to experience the Bow Valley through the eyes of its youth. Through the Lens is on view in The Whyte’s Founders Gallery from June 5 through the fall.
Plan your visit, stop in, and take your time with this thoughtful exhibition. These images offer a fresh perspective on place, community, and life in the Bow Valley.
Follow us on social and keep an eye on The Cairn for more updates on this exhibition, along with upcoming programs and events at The Whyte.
The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 111 Bear Street, Banff, AB
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