I am available for commissions in the Greater Toronto Area and Tri-Cities Area.
My work has been exhibited locally and internationally, including in New York City, and is included in The M Word: Real Mothers in Contemporary Art (2011). I was named a 2011 Flash Forward Emerging Photographer by the Magenta Foundation and was also named a Critical Mass Finalist by Photolucida in both 2011 and 2012.
I first picked up photography in 1998 when I dropped out of school for a year and bought an old, second-hand 35 mm Yashica. For a few years my camera and I were inseparable, but after I graduated with an English degree and started working full-time, it fell away.
Becoming a mother in 2006 changed everything. Before that, I had become a government drone who just went to work and came home to watch television in between panic and agoraphobia attacks, lacking any real critical engagement with the world. (What happened to that angry, idealistic university student???) With motherhood, everything became more intense and important, and suddenly I had something to say. I picked up the camera again and haven’t stopped since.
Curated group shows
Revealing Spaces, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, ON.
June to August 2012
Insights, Wellington County Museum, Fergus, ON.
June to August 2012
Family Dynamics, curated by Henry Horenstein, The Kiernan Gallery, Lexington, VA. Catalogue published.
Feb to March 2012
MAMA: Mothers Around the Globe, International Museum of Women
Your Voices: On Motherhood, International Museum of Women
Center Forward, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado. Catalogue published.
May 6 to June 11, 2011
Hard Knocks, Elora Centre for the Arts, Elora, ON.
March 24 to May 1, 2011
New Normal, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado.
November 2010
Mother/mother-, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City.
December 2009
still standing, Alma Gallery, Guelph, Ontario.
April-May 2009
Publications
Revealing Spaces: Kate Wilhelm, Shaun Downey and Andrea Carvalho by Sonya Jones. Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 2012.
Flash Forward 2011: Emerging Photographers from Canada, United Kingdom and United States, Magenta Foundation, 2011.
The M Word: Real Mothers in Contemporary Art. Ed. by Myrel Chernick and Jennie Klein, Demeter Press, 2011.
A Book of Beds. Published by Foam Magazine, 2011.
F-Stop Magazine. Issue 48 Relations, 2011.
“Many Scars” Deep Sleep Magazine, Issue 4.
“Lunenburg Invasion” Deep Sleep Magazine, Issue 2
Two-Powered: A Diary of Motherhood and Apple Pie, Kate Wilhelm, 2009. (self-published)
Awards and Honours
2011 Flash Forward Emerging Photographer
Selected for live auction at 2011 RMG Exposed
The Pikto Prize: Best Photojournalism/Documentary, 2010 RMG Exposed
* I donate 50 percent of all proceeds from online sales of my prints to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, a Canadian organization that helps to ease the pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa by funding community-level projects that provide care and support to women, orphans, grandmothers and people living with AIDS.
Barter with me…
My 2012 New Year’s resolution was to make, grow, repair or barter for more of what I need and buy or hire less.
What I can offer
Photography: portraits, interiors, objects. Normally I focus (ha!) almost exclusively on my own personal photography projects. But if you can share some item or skill with me in exchange, I can make photographs for you. I also teach, mentor and/or critique your own photography.
Writing, editing and strategic communications planning: In addition to 5+ years of my own explorations into social media, I’ve been providing my senior writing, editing and strategic communications planning skills to the public sector for more than 10 years. Clear writing depends on clear thinking, and I can help you with both. I can write or edit web copy, help you develop a social media strategy or discover the audiences you need to connect with, help you develop an artist statement or anything else you need help with your words on.
I’m particularly passionate about usability and plain language. Plain language and usability aren’t just about the words you choose. They’re about how the page is designed on which your words appear. It’s also about knowing your audience and thinking from their perspective. It’s about eliminating anything that’s irrelevant to your audience (even if it’s very relevant to you) and highlighting – through information structure, language and design – the stuff that matters most to them. I can help you do this no matter what your business is.
Web design and development: It’s actually my husband who’s a kick-ass developer, but for something good, I’m pretty sure he’d be willing.
What I want
Food: local produce, preserves, fish or grass-fed meat…
Clothes: especially for my kids (born Feb 2006 and May 2011), especially hand-made lovelies.
Home repairs and renovations: I’d love for someone to show me, in person, how to fix some of the stuff in my home.
Accommodations for a family vacation or other learning opportunity, especially somewhere interesting, although I’m sure we can neat find stuff to do anywhere.
Framing and mounting my photographs for exhibition.
Book design and editing expertise.
Access to a sewing machine – and maybe also some lessons.
Books
That’s what I can think of at the moment, but try me. Email me at kate(at)peripheralvision(dot)ca.
~ Kate Wilhelm
Guelph, Ontario