This exhibit is available for viewing from July 31-Sept 27, 2026.
Tony Austin
For sixty years, I have used photography to hold on to moments that would otherwise slip away. At the time of exposure, each image felt immediate—simply a response to light, gesture, or atmosphere. But as the years accumulated, I began to understand that every photograph becomes something more than the moment it records. It becomes history.
My work as a historical reenactor has also shaped this understanding. Reenactment asks us to step into the past, to inhabit stories that predate us. When photographed, those performances become layered documents: they show the era being portrayed, and they show my own long relationship with history. The camera captures both the costume and the person wearing it.
This exhibit, Now and Then, brings together images made across six decades. The photos, from theatre and rock and roll to sports and events, to time spent photographing the wonders of the natural world and even a stint as a Muse photographer, formed a visual autobiography—one that charts not only the world I’ve witnessed, but the person I’ve been at each stage of my life. The exhibition Now and Then is not just a retrospective; it is a reminder that history is not only what happened long ago. It is also what we carry with us, what we choose to preserve, and what we see differently each time we return to it. Together these black and white images form a personal archive, a visual record of the world I’ve witnessed and the life I’ve lived.
Photography freezes time, but it also reveals its passage. These images are my way of remembering, and my way of honouring the stories—large and small—that shape us.
Charles Keillor
I am a graphite pencil specialist who resides and works in Nanaimo.
Presently, my art focuses West Coast land & seascapes; often with an Architectural, Urban, or Industrial component. I am also fascinated by depicting local modes of transportation.
Interest in these subjects has culminated in my participation in successful group and solo exhibitions here on Vancouver Island, and on the Lower Mainland.
Created using the most elemental of mediums, my black and white drawings continue to explore the relationship between human habitats and the immediate natural world.
These stylized depictions aim to instill thoughts of anticipation, mystery, and celebration for the viewer.
