New Galt Museum exhibition highlights Ukrainian-Canadian photographers

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on February 27, 2025.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman "Lena and Thomas Gushul: In Front and Behind the Camera" exhibit co-curator Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn, will be sharing some insight into the exhibit and discuss the Gushuls' lasting influence on photography and community history this afternoon at the Galt Museum and Archives.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

An official opening of the newest exhibit at the Galt Museum and Archives is taking place this afternoon and those in attendance will have a chance to hear about it from co-curator Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn.

The travelling exhibit explores the remarkable life and work of Lena and Thomas Gushul, Ukrainian-Canadian photographers who settled in Alberta in the early 20th century. It’s called “Lena and Thomas Gushul: In Front and Behind the Camera.” The couple established their first photo studio in Coleman, AB, around 1917-1918, leaving behind an enduring visual record of life in the Crowsnest Pass.

Sembaliuk Cheladyn, a celebrated Ukrainian Canadian artist and illustrator, serves as the Kule Chair of Ukrainian Ethnography at the Kule Folklore Centre. She will share insights into the exhibit and discuss the Gushuls’ lasting influence on photography and community history.

“There was a team that worked on this project, it was actually initiated by a professor from the U of A (University of Alberta), Jelena Pogosjan, and I would say this was basically her brainchild,” said Sembaliuk Cheladyn.

Pogosjan was fascinated by the fact that the Gushuls corresponded before they met and they also wrote letters to family and friends afterwards describing their projects. The letters were kept in the Crowsnest Pass Museum.

“One thing you could learn from the letters is that Thomas and Lena kept up with technology and used an array of different cameras,” said Sembaliuk Cheladyn. “Thomas would go to Winnipeg to learn how to colour photographs, and there are a couple in the exhibit that have been coloured,”

Another researcher took part in putting the exhibit together who has a background in women and gender studies, and she looked into the relationship that Lena and Thomas had, as the “gender roles” did not follow the traditional norms of the time within their marriage.

“She was fascinated by the way they worked together,” said Sembaliuk Cheladyn. “It wasn’t a traditional split of responsibilities other than she looked after the kids. But (Lena) learned how to do all the different stages of the photography process, from taking the photographs to developing them and everything in between,”

In turn, Thomas also took care of the children while Lena was busy with something else, which made it a unique split of gender roles.

“And then I came on board close to the end of the project, once they had collected everything and I was the artist. I was curious about the creative process that they followed because when you look at the photography as a piece of art, the composition is good, everything is in focus, the coloration is technically really interesting and the choices of angles of the camera, they had a creative eye,” said Sembaliuk Cheladyn.

She took all that information and started to work on a way to turn it into a travelling exhibit, making sure it was modular and flexible enough to go into different places and different types of settings.

 “I started asking what photos should we include that tell a story and what story should it tell? And I really wanted to incorporate QR codes, so you can hear someone narrating a little bit about the story.

“You can hold your phone up to the QR code and it’ll give you the audio recording, telling you a little bit of the back story more than what’s on the sign, so I wanted to try that out.”

The Exhibit is now open to the public. The official opening and curator talk will take place today from 2-3:30 p.m. at the Galt Museum and Archives.