Друзья 55 лет совместной жизни представляют совместную выставку черно-белых фотографий и графических рисунков в Метчосине

Slice of history: Metchosin art show takes friends on walk down memory lane Published 5:45 am Wednesday, August 12, 2026 When Tony Austin and Charles Keillor first met 55 years ago at West Vancouver High School, they quickly forged a friendship over a shared love of movies. From sweeping historical epics and film noir classics to obscure Japanese gems, the pair developed a fascination with how a camera could capture a moment, preserving it for posterity. That passion for film would go on to influence the way both men viewed the world, inspiring them to document life through different artistic mediums – Austin through photography and Keillor through his graphite pencil drawings. “We saw life and the desire to record it,” says Austin. Though their lives and artistic endeavours have taken them down different paths, the longtime friends have come together again to celebrate a lifetime of work with a co-exhibition at the Metchosin Art and Cultural Centre’s Point of View Hallway Gallery. For Metchosin photographer Austin, curating the exhibition meant taking a trip down memory lane, trawling through thousands of images spanning 60 years. The collection includes snapshots of moments from across the globe, including some from his time as a photographer for the Metchosin Muse in the early 2000s. “Each image is a slice of history,” he says. One of those “slices” dates back to 1969, when Austin was making his rounds as a paperboy in West Vancouver. Titled ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’, the photograph captures a dog waiting patiently outside a butcher shop in an ordinary moment that decades later revealed a much more entertaining story. After the shot won best in show and the audience favourite award at the West Vancouver Library’s 75th anniversary show last year, Austin was contacted by the dog’s former owner. They told him they had always wondered why they kept finding bones in their backyard. The photograph provided the answer: their dog Sheba was apparently a regular customer at the butcher’s, bringing home bones to snack on. For Austin, the story is a perfect example of photography’s ability to preserve more than just an image; it can also reveal a story that might otherwise have been lost. “That’s what the power of photography is,” says Austin. “And that’s what I try to get across in this exhibit is that it’s not only a personal history, but it is history.” Austin may also be a familiar face to those who attend Metchosin Day, where he has served as a judge for the community’s annual photo contest for several years. For his exhibition, Austin recognizes the roles are reversed – this time, it’s his photographs on display and his work under scrutiny. “They can bring out the knives,” he jokes. For his ‘Now and Then’ exhibition, Austin has selected around 30 images from his six decades behind the camera, all in black and white to complement Keillor’s graphite drawings. Keillor’s work draws inspiration from the West Coast land and seascapes, often incorporating architectural, urban, or industrial elements. One drawing, ‘Otter Point A-Frame’, depicts his family home in Sooke, designed and built by his father in 1959. Keillor briefly lived there in the early 1960s, before the family moved to Vancouver. He returned decades later, in 1980, to visit, taking a photograph that would later inspire his creation. “About three years ago when I was in the Sooke Fine Art Show for the first time, I drove out and found, much to my delight, it was still there,” says Keillor, who now lives in Nanaimo. “What they’ve done to the house is just wonderful, they’ve preserved it.” Measuring 30 by 40 inches, Keillor says it took around a month for him to complete ‘Otter Point A-Frame’ – a typical timeframe for all of his creations, where painstaking attention to detail is central to his process. “I’m quite a stickler as far as architectural accuracy,” he says. While he has experimented with coloured pencils and paint, Keillor says he prefers to sketch in black and white, perhaps a nod to his love of film noir. Another drawing, ‘Return to Buntzen’, reflects both Keillor’s meticulous attention to detail and a different thread in his family history – his and his father’s connection to BC Hydro, where both worked. Keillor has sketched the now disused Buntzen powerhouse, a more-than-century-old structure on the shores of Indian Arm. The imposing industrial building’s presence, set against the surrounding wilderness, captures Keillor’s fascination with the juxtaposition of the built and natural worlds. “It’s almost being reclaimed by nature,” he says. Austin and Keillor’s work is on display at Metchosin Art and Cultural Centre’s Point of View Hallway Gallery until Sept. 27. The exhibition is open Tuesday to Thursdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Friday to Sundays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit: metchosinartcentre.ca.