Chris Donovan
in Paspébiac
EXHIBITION
The Cloud Factory
Chris Donovan, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada | www.chrisdonovan.ca
As a child, I looked up at the smokestacks and asked my father, “Do they make all the world’s clouds?” “No,” he replied, “they make money.”
In 2014, photographer Chris Donovan began documenting his hometown of Saint John, New Brunswick on Canada’s east coast. Saint John is a small, heavily industrialized city that is home to Canada’s largest oil refinery, one of the country’s wealthiest families, and one of its highest rates of child poverty. As Donovan began to photograph the city and its residents — driven to explore the proximity of extreme wealth and poverty — he became increasingly aware of the realities of environmental classism and ecological injustices in the city.
“This book is my protest. It is my refusal to be silent about environmental classism and the crimes of the ruling class. It is also my love letter to the city of Saint John, a magical city that, despite its difficulties, I genuinely believe to be full of beauty, hope, perseverance, truth and love.”
EXHIBITION AT RENCONTRES
The Cloud Factory
Chris Donovan is a documentary photographer based in New Brunswick. He is an educator and PhD candidate at Toronto Metropolitan University. Donovan’s work has been recognized by the World Press Photo Awards, Pictures of the Year International, the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant and the Scotiabank New Generation Photography Award. His regular editorial clients include The New York Times and The Globe and Mail. Inspired by his industrialized hometown of Saint John, New Brunswick, Donovan’s work focuses on visual representations of communities with industrialized and post-industrial economies, with a particular focus on Atlantic Canada and the American Midwest.