Lions Park Flood Mitigation in Medicine Hat

Over the last few months there has been a lot of discussion about the flood mitigation taking place in Lions Park in Medicine Hat, Alberta. A number of old trees have been cut down to make way for a new embankment / flood berm to help protect the flats from future flooding.

Earlier this spring I took a few pictures after the trees had been cut down to compare them to what I shot back in the fall. A huge section has been cleared and the change is actually quite dramatic. While it's sad to see the beautiful trees go, I can certainly appreciate the need to protect homes - hence the reason for all of the controversy. Here are a few shots I captured.

Recently cleared land in April.

The entrance to Lions Park closed off.

The entrance last fall.

The view entering Lions Park. Cleared land to the left.

Same street in the fall.

A shot of some of the trees that are now gone.

Flood Exhibit: A Shoot for Salazar

Last night I was back shooting at Medalta Potteries. Unlike my past work however, I was actually doing a follow up shoot for a project by Salazar Films out of Vancouver, British Columbia. Aaron Nelson, the Artistic Director at Medalta, was responsible for putting me in touch with Salazar when they were looking for a local filmmaker to assist in their project after they'd finished their primary shoot in Medicine Hat. Anyway, long story short, it turned out to be a good connection.

The exhibit, Flood by the students of Elm Street School, opened last night and was a showcase of artwork on clay tiles depicting student's memories surrounding the devastating flood that hit Medicine Hat last year. It was cool to interview a few of the kids and see them get excited about their work on display. I also put my big HDV Sony away, and took the opportunity to shoot with one of my DSLR's for a change - this is something that I'll probably be doing a lot more of moving forward. 

Stay tuned and I'll be sure to follow up when Salazar releases their finished film. In the meantime, here are a few of the snapshots I took between setups.

Medicine Hat Flood - Photography Prints

New in my shop, I've put together a packet of 25 - 4x6" photo prints that I shot of the 2013 flood in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Up until July 6, 2013 I'm donating all proceeds from the sale of these prints to local flood relief. Check out the new additions here.

We Are Strong: Medicine Hat Flood 2013

Last weekend I found myself consistently back and forth between home and the river. The flood was commanding everyone's attention, and being so close to the action I couldn't help but document my view of the flood bearing down on my hometown. I shot hundreds of images at various stages of the Medicine Hat flood over a 72 hour period. Subsequently, those photo sets reached thousands of viewers in just a couple of days thanks to the overwhelming shares, likes, and forwards they received.


My flood photo sets:
Part 1: Flood Preparations
Part 2: Sunday Morning the Flood Arrives
Part 3: Sunday Night the Flood Peaks
Part 4: Flood Peak Continued 
Part 5: Scholten Hill Before and After

At the heart of this, my goal was to capture what I believed to be another defining chapter in my city's story. Having dedicated so much of my time to building a photo series on Medicine Hat since last spring, this disaster once again brought home just how quickly things can change. I shot these images for posterity, but I also did it out of pride and a genuine appreciation for this community and the place I call home. 


I can only summarize this event as an observer, but I feel for all those who were directly affected and waited in agony to know if their homes were alright. I also want to salute all of the volunteers, city workers, police officers, and the countless other support staff who helped to navigate this disaster. The numerous updates on the flood situation via social media were orchestrated very efficiently given the circumstances, and I found them essential in knowing what was going on up to the moment.

As the flood waters recede and things start to return to normal, I wanted to put together a video to showcase some of my best shots from the Medicine Hat flood and to try and contextualize what my view of the disaster was. Using various news clips, sound effects, and merging a couple tracks from Moby and Radiohead, I put together a reel of some of the things I saw, while trying to evoke what the general atmosphere surrounding the disaster was in the media. Here's what I came up with. 

Medicine Hat Flood 2013: Before and After

Although I thought I'd wrapped up my shooting of the flood, this evening I was over by Scholten Hill and decided to take a few more pictures. The hill is still closed off to traffic, but I thought it was pretty amazing how quickly the water had receded since Sunday night when I shot the flood at its peak. Here's a brief follow up of a few of my before and after shots of the Medicine Hat flood. 

Wednesday - June 26, 2013

Sunday - June 23, 2013

Wednesday - June 26, 2013

Sunday - June 23, 2013

Wednesday - June 26, 2013

Wednesday - June 26, 2013

Sunday - June 23, 2013

Sunday - June 23, 2013

Wednesday - June 26, 2013

Sunday - June 23, 2013

Wednesday - June 26, 2013

Sunday - June 23, 2013

Sunday - June 23, 2013

Sunday - June 23, 2013

Wednesday - June 26, 2013

Medicine Hat Flood 2013: Part 4

My remaining photographs from a weekend of flood scene chasing. You can see all of my sets from over the last few days here: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Flooding on Sunday night. Calm before the flood on Friday below.