NEWSFLASH!  Hear renowned National Geographic photographer Sam Abell.

Join Sam Abell and Evelyn Nodwell 2:00 pm Saturday March 15, 2014 for an illuminating conversation about photography at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Mr Abell, renowned National Geographic photographer and teacher, will present a talk drawing on his 30 years as a world-ranging photographer. He will then join his friend, Vancouver photographer Evelyn Nodwell, for a walking conversation of her works on display in the Garden's gallery. 

GUIZHOU CHINA, In the Season of New Rice

March 1 - 30, 2014  Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 578 Carrall Street, Vancouver BC

(Exhibit Opening  2:00-4:00 pm Saturday March 1)

This photography exhibit by anthropologist and award-winning photographer Evelyn Nodwell explores village and small town life in Guizhou Province at a time of China’s growing urbanization.

Guizhou is among the least developed of China’s provinces. Many villages are still accessible only over rough, winding and narrow gravel roads; some are only accessible on foot. More than one-third of Guizhou’s towns and steep, green hills are populated by an ethnically diverse population of many indigenous ethnic minorities.

After the fall harvest, villages stage festivals, a traditional time for courtship. Festival activities include fireworks, water buffalo fights, bareback horse races, dancing, lusheng pipe playing and stalls of food, balloons and crafts.

Women dress in a wide range of clothing, from elaborate embroidered and silver-adorned festival dress, to jeans and high heels. Festival dress, also worn at weddings and other important events, is carefully stored in trunks and handed down within families.

At weekly markets, too, many women wear their traditional ethnic clothing, often a very dark blue-black or brownish indigo which is locally grown and made into a dye. Throughout Guizhou, spinning, dying, weaving, elaborate types of embroidery and batik are widely practiced by women, some of whom are recognized as master textile artists.

Rice is an important crop. Fall festivals are often called Tasting New Rice Festivals. The dried rice stalks are important fodder for animals and are stacked in the fields in characteristic pointed dome shapes.

The beauty and spontaneity of these photographs is thanks to the welcoming openness and good nature of the Guizhou people.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

As an anthropologist, Evelyn Nodwell has worked in Vancouver and India. Based on her research in India, she produced two television documentaries in collaboration with Knowledge Network. As a photographer, Evelyn has had photos published in Canadian Geographic magazine, The Province newspaper and Vancouver Coast and Mountains Tourism publications. Her prints have been included in the Burnaby Art Gallery sales and rental division. She has given photo workshops, and judges for camera clubs in Vancouver. In 2013 one of her images from China, A Good Laugh, came in 4th out of 280 photos at the North Shore Challenge.

Evelyn Nodwell embraced digital photography early for the degree of control that it gives her. In 2004 she produced the first slideshow in digital format for the annual Showcase at the Shadbolt Center for the Arts. Being a new technology, it was accepted with some trepidation by event organizers and became the winning show that year.

“First come the acts of seeing and experiencing - a heart-stopping play of light or color, a mood, an atmosphere, a human moment, an interaction.” she says. “There quickly follows the impulse to capture the moment or inspiration. Then comes the desire to communicate and share it. Photographing both nurtures and requires slowing down to savor the moment, to be fully engaged with the life around, and to see every sight and experience as if it were new.”

As an anthropologist Evelyn Nodwell is interested in people’s everyday lives. Whether she is photographing quickly to capture a fleeting moment or waiting patiently for compositional elements to become clear, she does not control a situation but looks for what happens. She strives to create images that give insights into an inner life, actions that speak about lifestyle, and interactions that speak about connections and context.

ABOUT DR. SUN YAT-SEN CLASSICAL CHINESE GARDEN

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, the first of its kind outside of China, is an authentic representation of an age – old garden tradition which reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The Garden is characteristic of the private spaces within a Ming scholar’s residence. With its asymmetrical arrangement of rocks and plants, its winding paths and corridors, and the vistas that overlook its courtyards, the Garden emulates the rhythms of nature.Ming dynasty scholars, the elite of their time, lived and worked in their garden, sharing these enchanting spaces with friends and family of all ages. Like any home, a scholar’s garden was filled with energy, but also offered quiet moments for contemplation.

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden was named "World's Top City Garden" by National Geographic and, in 2012, "Canadian Garden Tourism Garden of the Year".