The Nature of Nature
The Photographs of Thaddeus Holownia 1976-2016
The Nature of Nature celebrates 40 years of production from one of Canada’s leading photographers. Firmly located within the North American documentary genre, Holownia’s unique practice, using predominantly analogue technologies, merges high craft with prolonged inquiry. This book includes a critical analysis of his work by Sarah Filmore, David Diviney, and Peter Sanger as well as 161 stochastic reproductions in colour and black & white of Holownia’s contact prints.
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Thaddeus Holownia, ONB, MSRC, ARC, is a visual artist, letterpress printer, and publisher. He is professor emeritus in the Pierre Lassonde School of Fine Arts at Mount Allison University, where he taught for over forty years. Holownia’s photographs are held in numerous public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the International Centre of Photography in New York, and the Yale University Arts of the Book Collection. Holownia has written or contributed to more than 25 publications. He received the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2025.
Sarah Fillmore is Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Programming at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.
Peter Sanger chose Nova Scotia as his home more than 30 years ago, after ranging far and wide. He lives in a period farmhouse in a rural community. His first book of poetry was published in 1983. He currently teaches English at the Nova Scotia College of Agriculture.
David Diviney is the Chief Curator at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. His interest in the expanded histories and legacies of conceptual art has led to several exhibitions, such as David Askevold: Once Upon a Time in the East (2011), The Last Art College: Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1968–1978 (2016), and Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler: No More Boring Art (2025). His writing on the art of the 1960s and ‘70s, contemporary art, and visual culture has been published widely in journals and catalogues.
