New SAAG exhibits focus on photos

By Lethbridge Herald on November 1, 2025.

Nathan Reiter
Lethbridge Herald
Local News Initiative Reporter

A pair of new exhibits will shine a light on the medium of photography at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Image Metabolisms by Nancy Valladares and Other Suns by David M.C. Miller will open today and run until Jan. 10, 2026.

In an interview with the Herald, Curator and Exhibitions manager Adam Whitford says it’s important to bring fresh exhibits into the gallery on a regular basis.

“We run on a model where we’re always transitioning our exhibitions. Usually, we kind of turn over our exhibitions four times a year, so we always have something new. We’re focusing more on photography. It’s always important, I think, to either be supporting new artists, having new artists come and respond to Lethbridge or to show with us and bring their work to Lethbridge or in this case, also showcase Southern Alberta-based artists.”

The two exhibits will have both a local and international flare. Miller is a Lethbridge-based artist and his exhibit Other Suns looks to reimagine what a typical photograph is. Valladares is making her first solo exhibition in Canada with Image Metabolisms.

Whitford says Valladares exhibit has a local flair despite her being based in New York. 

“She was our artist-in-residence this year. She was at the Gushal Studio in the Crowsnest Pass for the month of August. She did a lot of research around coal and bitumen extraction in Alberta. Although Nancy is coming from New York, the exhibition is very much tied to Southern Alberta and the concerns of this place.”

While photography is the focus of the two new exhibits, Whitford says both explore the medium in very different ways.

“We try and showcase all mediums of contemporary art, whether it’s painting, installation, sound, performance, and this time we’re focusing on photography. I think both artists in really smart ways rethink what a typical photograph might be. In David Miller’s case, he’s really thinking about the excess of light and how sunlight really is kind of the start of all life in a way, and it is one of, if not the most essential parts of photography. Nancy is also rethinking photography in terms of its material networks. Bitumen is a very well-known material in Alberta, and it also happens to be the first photographic material as well. So Nancy was going back to photography’s origins.”

The exhibits open today with a full afternoon of events at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery. Opening remarks begin at 3:30 p.m. followed by an articulation talk and tour by the artists at 4 p.m. A full opening reception will take place afterward.