"I want to reinforce a belief in beauty; in this way, every work I make is a statement." - Jennifer Dickson
Jennifer Dickson is a photographer whose current focus is documenting and exploring the construction and destruction of man-made and natural landscapes. A passionate speaker, Dickson is in high demand as a lecturer on the evolution of garden aesthetics and the impact of cultural practices and trends on their development. While devoting a generous portion of her time to mentoring young artists and lecturing, she remains focused primarily on the production of her art.
Currently a resident of Ottawa, Dickson was born in the Republic of South Africa in 1936. Her art education began with an introduction to watercolors in her elementary school years; in her teens, she was granted special access to her high school art department to pursue her interest in and aptitude for art. Her undergraduate studies were completed in painting and printmaking at Goldsmiths College School of Art at the University of London, England. Immediately following graduation, a scholarship awarded by the French government brought her to Paris, where she studied under Stanley William Hayter at Atelier Dix-sept. Immigrating to Canada in 1969, she settled in Montreal and immersed herself in the arts community there, making her presence known on the Canadian scene. Dickson has traveled extensively, photographing natural and man made landscapes in Canada, the U.S., England, Wales, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco. Her project The Last Silence: Pavane for a Dying World curated by Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography traveled to destinations in Italy and Canada and included the work Morning Light After Rain, Isola Bella (Stairs and Sweetpeas) / Site Four: Isola Bella (1989)
Jennifer Dickson's work has been exhibited internationally as well as reproduced in publications by the Porcupine's Quill Press, and McClelland & Stewart. She was elected a Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Art in London, England, and was awarded the Order of Canada in 1995.