David McMillan (born in 1945) is a Winnipeg photographer who has photographed the 1986 Chernobyl disaster 22 times over 30 years, starting in 1994.
David McMillan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1945 Dundee, Scotland |
| Education | M.F.A. in painting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1973) |
| Known for | photographer of the Chernobyl disaster |
Early life and career
editMcMillan was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1945. In 1951 he emigrated with his family to the United States.[1] He originally studied to be a painter and received an M.F.A. in painting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1973. The same year, he began teaching painting and drawing at the School of Art at the University of Manitoba, then became interested in photography and in 1977[2] established its photography program in which he taught until he retired in 2013.[2][3]
Work
editMcMillan first explored painting, particularly portraits which he painted full-size. In 1977, he changed mediums to photography and in his work as a photographer explored the interaction and tensions between nature and architecture. In 1994, he travelled to Ukraine to photograph "The Zone" – the area affected by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster – and the visit inspired him with a visual story that lasted through 22 visits to the area for the next 30 years. Remembering Nevil Shute's On the Beach (1957),[4] McMillan discovered in Pripyat, the abandoned city closest to the reactor, grim annals of decay and growth - and beauty as nature took over the site. In 2016, McMillan spoke about the environmental disaster, saying the "growth seems incredible".[5] He has also said,
"It was also an event so dark, so complex and with so many ramifications that we are still collectively processing it".[6]
In 2018, the monograph on his Chernobyl work, Growth and Decay: Pripyat and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, was published.[7] It was accompanied by McMillan's first full-fledged retrospective in 2019 at the Oakland University Art Gallery, Rochester, Maryland titled McMillan's Chernobyl: An Intimation of the Way the World Would End curated by Claude Baillargeon.
In 2017, McMillan returned to painting full-size, detailed portraits, often of former academic colleagues and friends.[2] His prints are represented by the Martha Street Gallery in Winnipeg.[8]
Selected exhibitions
editMcMillan has had his work exhibited in more than 30 solo exhibitions and 43 group exhibitions.[9]
- 2005: Disaster Topographics Gallery TPW, Toronto[10]
- 2014: Shine a Light, the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Biennial[11]
- 2017: Photography in Canada 1960–2000 exhibition, National Gallery of Canada[12]
- 2019: McMillan's Chernobyl: An Intimation of the Way the World Would End, major retrospective, Oakland University Art Gallery, Rochester, Maryland.
Selected public collections
editReferences
edit- ^ "Photographs David McMillan" (PDF). umanitoba.ca. U Manitoba. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ a b c Bovey, Patricia E. (2023). Western Voices in Canadian Art. Winnipeg: U of Manitoba Press. p. 298. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ "Members". atomicphotographersguild.org. Atomic Photographers Guild. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Exhibitions". ouartgallery.org. Oakland U Art Gallery. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Article". globalnews.ca. Global News. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Article". bordercrossingsmag.com. Border Crossings Magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Book". search.worldcat.org. Steidl, Göttingen, 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Artists". printmakers.mb.ca. Martha Street Studio, Winnipeg. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ a b c "Article". gallery.ca. National Gallery of Canada magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Disaster Topographics". scotiabankcontactphoto.com. Scotia Bank. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Photographer". youtube.com. National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Article". gallery.ca. National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ "Collection". ago.ca. Art Gallery of Ontario. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ "Collection". collection.mam.org. Milwaukee Art Museum. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ "Collection". wag.ca. Winnipeg Art Gallery. Retrieved 25 January 2024.