Canadian Forces Artist Program
In the summer of 2019, I visited Latvia as part of the Canadian Forces Artist Program (CFAP) to observe Operation REASSURANCE, a Canadian Armed Forces mission established in 2014. The mission was formed in response to the Russian annexation of Crimea and is part of NATO's collective deterrence and defence measures in Eastern Europe. The photographs in this series were taken in and around Camp Ādaži, a Western Alliance military base and training range in Latvia, where I stayed with the enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battle Group. Some of the photographs were taken in Estonia during outreach activities. At the time, the eFP Battle Group comprised troops from Canada, Spain, Albania, Montenegro, Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, and Latvia.
At Camp Ādaži, I observed training exercises, outreach events, and competitions and was permitted to document these activities while shadowing Image Technicians (photographers) for the eFP BattleGroup. As I shadowed the Image Technicians, I became interested in how photographs, social media, and marketing shape the public image of the CAF and the eFP Battle Group. The title of the series responds to a 2023 Canadian Armed Forces recruiting campaign.
Since entering the CFAP, I began researching the work of Canada's first official female war artist, Molly Lamb Bobak, with a focus on her wartime diary. Alongside the photographs, I developed a war diary in the form of a sketchbook, which combines images and written reflections from my experiences with the CFAP, along with research on the treatment and status of women in the Department of National Defence and the CAF.
Four photographs from the series and the sketchbook are part of the Group 9 CFAP exhibition at the Canadian War Museum from November 3, 2023 - March 17, 2024. Reproductions of pages from Bobak's wartime diary are displayed alongside my sketchbook. Thank you to Calgary Arts Development for a grant in support of this work.
