Photographers in the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography festival turn their lens to capture life and landscape across the globe, but some of the most compelling images come from right here at home. This May 2-4, celebrate your home and native land by taking in CONTACT exhibits that feature images from the True North, strong and free. 

Fred Herzog: Vancouver
German by birth, Fred Herzog came to Canada in 1952 and began capturing the urban landscape of Vancouver. His images contrast the city’s “effervescence and its over-indulgence,” and paint a nostalgic picture under familiar Hastings neon lights. 
National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, 952 Queen St. W. 

Kevin Schmidt: A Sign in the Northwest Passage
This billboard represents Schmidt’s time in the Northwest Territories, and captures the environmental devastation of natural landscapes. In its original location, the billboard sat on the ice above natural oil reserves. When the seasons changed and the ice melted, the billboard drifted away to parts unknown. 
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, South Facade, 231 Queens Quay W.

Edward Burtynsky: Oil 
These large-format photographs capture the far-reaching effect of this natural resource. Many of the most striking images are from the tar sands in Alberta. 
Institute for Contemporary Culture, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park

Suzy Lake: Political Poetics
Suzy Lake’s body-based work expresses the experience of Canadian women. 
University of Toronto Art Centre, 15 King’s College Circle

Boreal Collective
The Boreal Collective is made up of young photojournalists who capture social inequity with their cameras. This exhibition highlights recent projects set in Canada. Subjects include the tar sands, the petrochemical industry in Sarnia, immigration to Toronto, foster care and its effect on First Nations families, and missing women in British Columbia. 
Bau-Xi Photo, 324 Dundas St. W. 

James Nizam: Memorandoms
This work captures the Little Mountain Housing Project, the oldest in Vancouver, which was recently demolished to make way for condos and social housing. Nizam constructed sculptures with remnants left in the old buildings. 
Birch Libralato, 129 Tecumseth St. 

Glen Baxter: Right to Play-Sandy Lake, Ontario-2010-2011
Glen Baxter documents remote communities in support of Right to Play. This exhibition focuses on a fly-in First Nations community in Northwestern Ontario. 
Boss Store, 83 Bloor St. W. 

Surendra Lawoti: Don River
Lawoti’s work captures the transient locals who call the shores of the Don River home. 
Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, 401 Richmond Ave Ste 120

Martie Giefert: Reconstruction (Gladstone) 
A site-specific installation in response to the Gladstone’s third floor that we suspect you will have to see to understand. 
Gladstone Hotel, 3rd Floor. 1214 Queen St. W. 

Serena McCarroll: Three Women 
An exploration of the lives of three women in the small community of Bruno, Saskatchewan. 
I.M.A. Gallery, 80 Spadina Ave. Suite 305

Stephen Cruise: Share the Moment
An exploration of North York’s past landscape, expressed with the Kodak Fotomat, a forgotten drive-through photoprocessing booth. 
Koffler Gallery Offsite at Sheppard Plaza, 4400 Bathurst St. 

Chris Gergley: Field Work
Large-scale colour photographs of Canadian surroundings. 
Monte Clark Gallery, 55 Mill St. Bldg 2