The photography show, Turtle Valley: Memory and Magic, featuring the photographs of Mitch Krupp and words of Gail Anderson-Dargatz, runs October 6-27 at the SAGA Public Art Gallery in Salmon Arm, BC.

The opening reception of the photo show and local book launch of Turtle Valley is Friday, October 5 from 7-9 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend the party.

You can listen to Mitch Krupp talk about his photography show on Daybreak South airing provincially on CBC Radio British Columbia on Thanksgiving Monday, October 8 at 6:45 a.m. For more on Daybreak South, go to: http://www.cbc.ca/daybreaksouth/marionBarschel.html

The Shuswap-Thompson landscape has been the subject of the work of both the photographer Mitch Krupp and the novelist Gail Anderson-Dargatz for the breadth of their respective careers, even as Anderson-Dargatz lived elsewhere for almost two decades. Now, as a result of their collaboration, both artists are seeing and presenting that landscape in fresh ways.

Krupp's photographs now compliment the narrative in Anderson-Dargatz's latest novel, Turtle Valley, and as they worked together to incorporate those images, Anderson-Dargatz found that plot elements and themes buried within the text emerged that would not have otherwise, changing the novel profoundly.

For his part, Krupp found his passion for photography reinvigorated by their collaboration on this novel and other projects, and as a result, after thirty years of working in black and white, Krupp turned to colour, a change that has given new expression to the way he captured the mystery and magic of this region.

The Shuswap-Thompson landscapes found in both Krupp's photographs and Anderson-Dargatz's fiction are haunted by images from the subconscious. They are dreamscapes and reflect a deep fascination with memory and its ability to alter how we view the familiar environment around us, an environment that we know so well, perhaps, that we no longer truly see it. This show is an opportunity to view that familiar landscape in new and perhaps startling ways, through the eyes of Mitch Krupp and Gail Anderson-Dargatz.

Photo credit on image of Mitch and Gail: Lydia Krupp. Photo credit on bridge: Mitch Krupp. To see more of Mitch Krupp's photos, visit his website at: http://www.mitchkrupp.com/

The poet and novelist Andrea MacPherson will be joining me on my forum at http://www.gailanderson-dargatz.ca/ on September 30 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. PST to talk about her new novel, Beyond the Blue, and her new book of poetry, Natural Disasters, among a great many other things. If you'd like to join our conversation, please register on the forum (preferably the day before), or you can bring a cuppa and just listen in. Either way, we'd love to have you over for a visit!

Andrea MacPherson is a poet and novelist. She has written four books: two novels, When She Was Electric (Raincoast, 2003) and Beyond the Blue (Random House, 2007) and two poetry collections, Natural Disasters (Palimpsest, 2007) and Away (Signature Editions, 2008). When She Was Electric was listed No. 6 on CBC Canada Reads: People’s Choice. Andrea holds an MFA from the Creative Writing Department at the University of British Columbia, where she was Editor of Prism International. She is the Reviews Editor for Event Magazine, and teaches Creative Writing with University College of the Fraser Valley and Douglas College. For more on Andrea and her writing, check out her website at: http://www.andreamacpherson.com/