Natalie Baird and Jonny Lush are lens-based artists working with low-fi approaches to photography and image-making. They both run community darkrooms in their home cities of Winnipeg, MB and St. John’s, NL. Natalie and Jonny focus much of their attention on facilitating collaborative, place-based art experiences that slow-down image making processes. Since 2019 they have worked together to develop photography and media art projects with land and cultural programs in the communities of Pangnirtung and Kinngait (NU). 

Natalie Baird is a visual artist and educator based in Winnipeg, Treaty 1 Territory. Working in filmmaking, photography, and drawing processes, her work is centered on honoring moments of community and connection. Her community-based projects strive to build reciprocal relationships between people and with the natural world through shared art experiences in diverse settings – be it on locked healthcare units, in city parks, or on the sea ice. Most recently she co-directed the short animated documentary Don't Let the Sun Catch you Crying with her friend and collaborator Toby Gillies, produced by the National Film Board and available online at www.nfb.ca

Instagram:instagram.com/natbaird

Jonny Lush is an educator, multidisciplinary artist and founding member of the organization DarkNL Community Darkroom. Splitting his time between St. John's, Newfoundland, and Pangnirtung, Nunavut, his work focuses on art as a tool for experiential education and collaboration. Much of his time is spent trying to demystify and democratize analog photography by creating large public installations that invite observers to see and understand what's going on inside of a camera and/or darkroom. He is currently working on a project involving a large trailer-mounted camera/darkroom hybrid which he is hauling around the island making huge prints and inviting onlookers to come check out the process in real-time.

Instagram:instagram.com/darknlcommunitydarkroom