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MOUNTAINLIFEBLUEMOUNTAINS
SUMMER2016
Generally, Will Skol doesn’t photograph people. Instead, the Toronto-to-Collingwood
import gravitates toward pictures where “humanity is evinced only by its fabrications, or
themarks it leaves behind.”
Skol is a graphic designer whose interest inphotography always “simmered in the back-
ground.” It seems hismove north in2012 led to thewholesale pursuit of his craft around
local back lanes, shorelines and county roads. “Itwas time toput down roots closer to the
Escarpment, theBruce, thewater,” he says.
Clearly, Skol is an exceptionally thoughtful shooter. His consideration of his subjects
borders on the mystical: “What is the emotional response that results from a series of
images devoid of people? Are these people-less domains a sign of future desolation, or are
theywelcoming,memory-like situations to somehow relive?”
From crackedpiers to anovergrowndrive-ins, Skol’s images find illumination in forgotten
corners of our ever-shifting landscape. “I invite viewers to draw their own conclusions
about what might be happening inside the frame,” adds Skol, “and what could have
influenced that activity fromoutside of it.”
—Ed.
THE PHOTOGRAPHYOFWILL SKOL
