Montreal-based photographer Robert van Waarden has visited with people along the 4,600 route of the Energy East pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Saint John, New Brunswick.
In his description of the ‘Along the Pipeline’ project, he writes, “[It’s] an ambitious project to photograph those impacted by the proposed Energy East pipeline. …Using a 4×5 film camera and digital cameras I will create portraits and multimedia pieces that put a human face on this pipeline proposal. Through this work I hope to demonstrate the strength of individuals and communities, what they value and how this project will have far reaching implications. By leveraging the power of visual storytelling we can bring people from all over Canada to the front lines of this issue.”
The Council of Canadians is one of the groups that helped sponsor this project, along with Greenpeace, Environmental Defence, Project Survival Media and numerous individuals.
Photographs from this project were recently featured in the Guardian newspaper. To see those photographs, please click here.
Van Waarden is again working with the Council of Canadians in partnership with 350.org to photograph the front-line community of Red Head. This neighbourhood is situated on the eastern edge of Saint John, right on the Bay of Fundy. If the Energy East pipeline were to proceed, a new marine terminal to load supertankers and a huge tank farm to store millions of barrels of oil prior to export would be built close to their homes.
Photo: Robert Van Waarden
Earlier this week he posted this photograph on his Facebook page and wrote, “A sign is displayed at the #endoftheline for the #EnergyEast pipeline. Residents and groups in New Brunswick, a province that is largely seen as captured by corporate power, are organising to oppose the project. They will be hosting a march on May 30.”
The Council of Canadians has been working with the Red Head and Anthony’s Cove Preservation Association and others to support the May 30 march.
For more on that End of the Line march, please click here.
To see more of Van Waarden’s photographs of Red Head, see his Facebook page here.
