Thelma Pepper poses with a Rolleiflex camera in 2018 at a seniors' home in Saskatoon. (photo by David Gutnick)
Acclaimed Saskatchewan photographer Thelma Pepper, known for her portraits of elderly women in nursing homes, died Dec. 1. She was 100.
"Mom meant so much to so many people in this province," her son Gordon Pepper said in an email to CBC News.
"She touched and inspired everyone she met. She loved talking to people, learning about them, and ultimately, in her own quiet and confident way, making all she met feel better about themselves and their own lives.
Pepper, who took up photography in earnest when she was 60, was the subject of a recent book, Thelma: A Life in Pictures by Saskatoon writer Amy Jo Ehman.
The Remai Modern in Saskatoon is planning a retrospective exhibition to honour Pepper's contributions. It will open Feb. 13.
“Thelma is not just a little old lady on the Prairies,” says Sandra Fraser, the Remai curator organizing the exhibition with Leah Taylor, curator of the University of Saskatchewan’s art galleries and collection. “She really does belong to this art history.”
Pepper, who published four photography books, was an advocate for arts and culture in the province and was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and the Saskatchewan Arts Board Lifetime Achievement Award.
Source: CBC News, Saskatoon StarPhoenix