TEKOA PREDIKA - EXPOSURE emerging photographers showcase

This is an ongoing project that started in an off-grid housing co-operative in Manitoba in 2015. Recently my focus has been in the Columbia Basin where I have documented people living in tiny houses, yurts, reclaimed shacks, co-operatives built on self sustainability and remote cabins.

Born out of necessity historically and currently, the homesteader seeks to create sustainable autonomy out of the surrounding environment. A humble connection to the earth and a contentment with simple living are a common theme for modern homesteaders. As with historical homesteaders our contemporaries are cutting new paths to a sustainable future with a lifestyle that will lower our impact on the planet.

For me the wet plate collodion photo process is the perfect medium to explore and document this project because it is timelessly rooted in a collective era and is widely recognized as historical. It forces the viewer to see modern homesteaders in the same light as our romanticized ancestors.

Tintypes are more than just a photograph they are a dynamic recording of the moment it was made, with the fingerprints of the maker and environmental impact on the chemical alchemy. Mastering a craft is an important part of my artistic practice and Wet Plate Collodion Photography gives me the authenticity and learning curve I need to create.

BIOGRAPHY

Tekoa Predika is an artist and photographer living in Calgary AB. Tekoa has been working with analogue photography processes since his days as a student at ACAD in the late 1990's. For the past 9 years Tekoa has honed his craft with the historical photography process called wet plate collodion and has created over 800 portraits on metal and glass plates, using large format cameras. Tekoa has made collodion tintypes on site at many different locations over the years, such as art galleries, museums, artist run centres, book stores, and wilderness locations. In 2018 Tekoa received CKCA Communities Grant that greatly helped with opening a new chapter on his ongoing project of documenting Homesteaders and individuals that live off grid. This Grant allowed his primary focus to be in the Kootenays and all the amazing characters that live there. For the last 5 year Tekoa has had the honour of mentoring National Indigenous Artist Alexa Black and has been an assistant on her on going Wet Plate Collodion interpretation of the tarot. Tekoa Predika has recently had a solo show, Enduring Spirit at the Touchstones Museum featuring his Kootenay homesteaders project. Receiving a CKCA grant and the loosening of Covid-19 regulations has allowed Tekoa to continue his exploration and documentation of this lively subculture and is looking forward expanding into other regions.