Photographer Ashley Bochek’s work part of exhibit in national museum
Residential School Memorial now at Canadian Museum of History
September 9, 2024, 10:09 am
Kevin Weedmark
A photo by World-Spectator reporter and photographer Ashley Bochek will be part of a display at the Canadian Museum of History.
On September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the museum will unveil a display built around the Residential School Memorial, a carved totem pole created by carver Stan Hunt.
The display will be up at the museum in the Ottawa area for a year.
Part of the display will be a photo Bochek took at the RCMP Heritage Centre last September.
Following is an interview with Bochek on having her work selected for the museum exhibit.
For people who don’t know you, tell me about yourself and how you came to be taking photos for the World-Spectator that day.
I’ve lived in Moosomin my whole life. I grew up there, my whole family lives there and I went to school at MacLeod Elementary and McNaughton High School. In my Grade 11 and 12 years I started out working at The World-Spectator as the student employee. I started off working at The World-Spectator just doing whatever they needed—a couple of calls here and there for advertising, washing their vehicles, getting fuel, picking up signs and stuff like that. Then Kevin brought me along on some stories and interviews and showed me a little bit about that.
Then I was also asked to take photos for The World-Spectator so then that kind of intertwined with the stories—I would go and do a story and take photos for the article.
Last September, I was asked to go to the RCMP Heritage Centre for the reception of the Residential School Monument. Kevin asked me to go cover it because I had moved to Regina for the fall to go to university and I kept writing while I was in the city. Stan Hunt had made a totem pole, he was the carver, and Kevin wanted to put it in the World-Spectator Truth and Reconciliation feature, so I took a couple of pictures and stayed for the ceremony which was really nice and it was really good to see everything.
So what did you think of the event that day? What was that like?
Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect because I had never been to anything like that before. They unveiled the totem pole. It was actually quite a big event and it went on for quite awhile and it was very cool to see. They did a couple of speeches and Stan brought his family along on the tour that the totem pole was going on and they did some ceremonies. It was really cool and I got to take a couple of pictures and it was honestly very interesting to all see and kind of learn about too.
I look back at some of those pictures again and then I look at some of the other media pictures—you seem to capture the spirit more than the other photos, with the expressions on the faces, with the moment the star blanket is being lifted over Stan’s shoulders. What’s your approach to photography and how did you capture those images? Compared to what other people published that day, yours are outstanding.
I’ve always liked taking pictures and I thought that day that it’s all about the ceremony, and how important it was to Stan and his family that they created something so beautiful, not just for the B.C. First Nations but for all of Canada, for all of the Indigenous people in Canada.
When I was taking pictures I wanted lots of pictures of Stan himself but also of his family because it shows that they’re all there supporting one another but this is all there to celebrate them and their culture. They were very easy to take pictures of, too, just because you could tell that they were at so much peace and they were so happy and that made the photos.
I just focused on the special moments like hugging and the star blanket specifically. I just wanted to get those because those pictures show what the whole day was about just from one shot.
That other one is a great one too where Sgt Kelly and a member of Stan’s family are embracing. That’s another great shot.
After taking the photos, I was thinking that’s a good one too but I never thought a lot about it until now looking back at it a year later when the museum asked me about the picture. I looked back at all the rest of them and I thought, ‘Wow, they really do emphasize and portray what that day was all about.’ And I love that, actually. It shows a lot about what people were thinking that day and what was in people’s hearts and on their minds.
Did you know that day that you’d captured something special?
No, I was honestly very surprised by all of this. That day I realized that it was such a great event going on and I remember seeing the pictures after and thinking that they would be good for the paper but I never thought that they would be so good that they’d want to use them in a museum to highlight the story behind the totem pole.
That exhibit is going to be unveiled on September 30 on Truth and Reconciliation Day. What was your reaction when you heard that the Museum of History in the Ottawa area selected your picture out of all of the ones that were taken around the country to use as part of the museum exhibit?
I thought, ‘Oh my gosh. They want my picture out of a whole bunch of other pictures taken along its journey.’
To me it was kind of crazy because I thought they were good pictures but I didn’t think they were as good a quality as the ones used in museums. I’ve been to museums and seen the pictures that are there to highlight different objects and artifacts. Those always look like fantastic pictures and I honestly just didn’t think that mine were as amazing and they’d want to use it.
How does that make you feel that somebody totally unbiased who doesn’t know you is saying, ‘This is museum-quality work. This is amazing work.’
It honestly just makes me so happy because I knew that I always like taking pictures but I just never thought that anything like this would ever come of it. It’s a very cool thing to happen to me. I’m just surprised that mine was chosen and it does make me really happy and excited and I want to go see it with my family. I would love to go see it and I want to go to the Canadian Museum of History anyway because I’ve never been—but to go in and see my name in there is really cool.
What do you like about photography?
I always like the way you take a picture and instantly someone can connect with it and knows what it’s about it and who it is. I love how with photography you can take a picture and look at it and feel like you’re in B.C. for instance, because you saw the picture and you can picture it. When you asked me to start taking pictures I just thought I can do it and just didn’t realize that maybe they are actually pretty good.
It’s honestly really surprising to myself because I go out and about for a day and something will catch my eye and instantly I think that would be a really cool picture. I honestly think it’s pretty cool that I do pick up on things like that where I want to take that picture, I like it after and I know it looks cool and I know that other people like it, but honestly I don’t even know where it comes from. It’s just kind of cool to me that I do have that eye, that can pick up on things. It’s the most random things sometimes too where I think it would make a cool picture. It could mean nothing but to me it’s still a really cool picture. Then people can see it and know and feel it and have a sense of connection to it.
What do you enjoy about being creative and communicating in that way? Photography is one form of communication but creative people always want to communicate in different ways it seems.
To me it kind of comes as a surprise that I am somewhat decent at photography and see things that are different and want to take a picture of it.
This picture shows me that I do have a bit of a talent that I never thought anything of. I do think it’s kind of cool that way to kind of connect in a world like that. So maybe I’ll dive into it a little bit more.
This is an important display—the unveiling is on September 30 on Truth and Reconciliation Day in the nation’s capital and you have a part in it—how does that make you feel?
I’m so excited that I was chosen and I’m happy to be a little part of something that’s so big.
It makes me smile. I’m so excited that my name gets to be a part of something bigger than just the picture I took. It’s really cool to think about it and know that I get to be a part of this big ceremony and a big part of Indigenous culture. My picture is there and it’s really cool to me. It’s for all of Canada and that’s really special. I can’t wait to go take my picture there because I would cherish that forever.
I have been able to be a part of so many cool experiences working at the World-Spectator and this is just another example of that!
