Salt Spring Island’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony continues to attract large crowds every year, even as the number of veterans in attendance has declined.
That so many people take time to watch the parade, listen to speakers and music, and honour the two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. is a testament to the desire to not forget the sacrifices made by individuals, families, communities and countries in past wars.
Now, an exhibition of photography highlights the poignancy of the local ceremony and veterans from a broad time period.
What These Eyes Have Seen: Witness to War features a collection of large colour portraits of veterans taken over the course of 14 local Remembrance Day events by Salt Spring Island photographer and filmmaker Alan Bibby, along with photographs from veterans’ years of service and other memorabilia. The exhibition will be in the ArtSpring gallery from Wednesday, Nov. 6 through Tuesday, Nov. 12, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
“It’s a debt of thanks to those who have passed and current vets who are still in the parade or sitting at the benches, plus those who are still serving,” Bibby explained as he was in the final stages of gathering material in late October.
He first started taking the Remembrance Day photos in 2009, thinking he would create a documentary record of the events and participants. But as time went on he realized he should narrow his gaze, “so I went from wide angle to close-up, or ECU — extreme close-up” — and felt strongly moved by his photo subjects.
“What I saw over the years was, I thought, etched in their faces. You know, their experience, especially in their eyes.”
He said it wasn’t hard to imagine what those eyes had witnessed, even if the individuals had not been immersed in heavy-duty combat.
Veterans photographed have served not only in World War II but in more recent conflicts too.
“They’ve been stored away all these years, and it was very recently when I thought, ‘This cannot just sit in boxes or on a hard drive.’”
Bibby had a natural interest in the project because his father and extended family members served during the Second World War, and he has done extensive reading about military history. As well, among Bibby’s many films created in the past four decades is War in the Mind, about veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder. The film includes interviews with high-profile military personnel such as Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire (retired), who led the tragic United Nations peacekeeping mission during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, and other vets in Canada and the U.S.
Bibby is grateful for exhibition assistance provided by Royal Canadian Legion Branch 92 members, the Salt Spring Island Archives, the Salt Spring Island Museum and veterans’ family members. The compilation will include a number of physical items along with the photographs. World War I Memorial Plaques, also known as the Dead Man’s Penny, uniforms and medals are among pieces that will help tell the stories.
A book of the photographs is also in the planning stages.