Larry Towell Boundaries

Boundaries spans four-decades of Larry Towell’s prolific career, revealing his emotionally charged and deeply humanist vision as a photographer. His work explores themes of land, landlessness, and control, ranging from a personal account of his family’s life in rural Ontario to the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire of war.

The exhibition highlights selections from Towell’s extensive photographic series, including: The Mennonites, which exposes the extreme poverty endured by the Canadian/Mexican Mennonite community as they struggle to resist modernity; The World From My Front Porch, which offers a personal account of Towell’s family life and home in Dawn-Euphemia Township; El Salvador, the award winning No Man’s Land which intimately examines the struggle for survival in the conflict zones of El Salvador and Palestine; Afghanistan, released in 2014, plus his most recent project, The History War, which documents Ukraine’s long struggle for independence.

A listening room will complement the exhibition. As a talented poet and musician, Towell has produced hypnotic songs of resistance resulting in several music/poetry CDs and a recent collector’s three vinyl LP set of ballads focusing on international issues. The room will also feature a selection of photo books showcasing his unique blend of personal notes, ephemera and photography that push the boundaries of storytelling.

Larry Towell (b. 1953) was raised in rural Lambton County. After studying visual arts at York University in Toronto (1972–1976) and volunteering in Calcutta (1976), he spent two years living in solitude on a homemade raft where he began to write. His photojournalist career began in the 1980s when he deployed to document the civilian victims of the Nicaraguan Contra War from which he would go on to be the only Canadian member of the prestigious Magnum Photo agency (1988.) Over the past four-decades Towell’s coverage of historic events, human rights, and conflict have appeared in leading publications that include New York Times Magazine, Life Magazine, Rolling Stone, Geo, Stern, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, The Nation, and The New Yorker, and has resulted in the publication of 16 books.

Towell has exhibited internationally and his work is included in collections at the Getty Center, National Gallery of Canada, George Eastman Museum, National Museum of Qatar, and Archive of Modern Conflict in the UK.

International photography awards include: The Henri Cartier-Bresson Award (first recipient); several first place World Press awards including the 1994 Photo of the Year; a Hasselblad Award; The Alfred Eisenstadt; The Oskar Barnack; the first Roloff Beny Book prize, a Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award, the Prix Nadar of France, and a British Design and Art Direction (D&AD) Award.

November 7, 7:30 p.m.

Imperial Theatre Sarnia

Larry Towell's business card reads: 'Human Being'. And for the past 40 years, the celebrated Magnum photographer has chronicled humankind's deepest struggles. InThe Man I Left Behind, the Canadian artist and folk musician reflects on his relentless pursuit of stories shaped by conflict and displacement. In The Man I Left Behind, Towell pulls from a vast archive of photos, videos, songs, and poetry to contrast the turmoil of conflicts over territory with the serenity of his own family farm. The film poignantly explores how losing land can mean losing self and is a testament to the power of bearing witness. The film ultimately portrays the profound absurdity of war.

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