Decades worth of local aerial farm photos to be on display next month

Aerial photos of farms dating back to the 1950’s will be on display for two days in Medicine Hat and one day in Brooks this month.

Homestead Aerial Photos out of Calgary will be bringing about 100,000 photos with them to the event. The area covered will be southwest Saskatchewan and southern Alberta as far west as Lethbridge and north to the Oyen/Hanna area.

“People living in Medicine Hat might be from farms all over, let’s just say we never bring enough,” said Homestead Aerial Photos owner Kim Bessette.

The photos have never been reclaimed from when they were taken, which was often on speculation back in the day. The display will be set up for two days, Oct. 21 and 22, in the Medicine Hat Mall.

People can start by looking at aerial maps and let Homestead know where the farm is. From there, they get handed a pack of 4×6 prints to go through. It’s also possible to see the progression of the farm, as Bessette says they’re bringing out photos from several decades and many farms were photographed more than once.

Both Bessette and his wife, Eileen Deringer, are from farming backgrounds and bought Homestead Aerial Photos in the 1990s.

The original owner started it in the 1950s in Edmonton and had moved the entire library to Kelowna where it was sitting in a building.

“We were looking for a business and we thought it would be a good fit,” said Bessette. “We still take aerial photos (digital), but they are done with drones now.”

Homestead Aerial Photos will also be in Brooks at the Heritage Inn on October 20 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m..

Their spot in the Medicine Hat Mall the following two days will be across from People’s Jewellers.