Niel Dankoff

REFLECTIONS OF CAMP

August 22 – September 15, 2013

An avid outdoorsman and photographer, Neil Dankoff has had a lifelong affinity for discovering the artful beauty in nature. The images presented by Dankoff in (Name of Exhibition), are celebratory portraits of seven well-established camps in Northern Ontario; the water’s mirror-like surface, misty mornings and intensely saturated colours that are unique to these regions. As a youth Dankoff spent fourteen memorable summers forging friendships, learning the land and becoming his own true self at a sleep-away camp.

Attending camp has been a right of passage for multiple generations and continues on, not only as a personal experience, but also as a bonding point for many families. Beyond being a familial tradition, escaping the urgency of modern pressures to create new ties to the wilderness of Northern Ontario has been a long-standing social and artistic Canadian tradition. Dankoff expands this tradition by bridging the private, personal connections that people have to these wild spaces and the larger, collective experience. The rich images in (Name of Exhibition) envelope viewers and create a reminiscent sense of place, peace and youthfulness.