Sask. photographer chronicled faces from across the prairies
Thelma Pepper found a passion in life that carried her through until she was 100 years old. Perhaps most remarkably, she didn't discover that love of photography until she was 60 years old.
Born in 1920, Pepper, a renowned Saskatchewan photographer and advocate for arts and culture, died Tuesday at the age of 100.
Born in Kingston, Nova Scotia, Pepper didn't come to Saskatchewan until 1947 — but her photography is best known for showing pieces of its history.
Pepper became well-known for her iconic black-and-white photos of women and men across the prairies, especially those from farm and rural communities.
Her work has been exhibited in galleries across Canada and Europe, and the Remai Modern art gallery will host a retrospective celebration of it in 2021.
“This upcoming exhibition was going to be everything for Mom,” her son Gordon said in an email. “I know she will be there in spirit, with all of the visitors as they experience her photographs.”
Pepper didn't begin delving deeply into photography until after her children had grown up and left home. Her first solo exhibition, Decades of Voices: Saskatchewan Pioneer Women, was created when she was 66 years old; it toured around the world.
Her passion for the art, coupled with her creative skill, led her to create a name for herself in the world of photography. When Pepper was awarded the Saskatchewan
Order of Merit in 2018, she was the oldest recipient in the award's history at the age of 98.
She was also the recipient of the Lieutenant-governor's Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2014.
In her obituary, Pepper is quoted as saying she believed the brain is like a “bowl of energy” waiting to be released.
“If you activate that brain through doing something creative, it gives you wonderful energy,” Pepper is quoted as saying.
A celebration of her life is being planned for the spring or summer of 2021.