Helen Solmes

September 2022

Helen Solmes is a photographer who is passionate about the prairie landscape, more so now than ever. After retiring in 2014 Solmes chose to leave the prairies she called home for 30 years to return to her native Ontario to be closer to family and to be part of her two grandchildren’s lives. Though Solmes has had many opportunities to photograph Ontario and parts of Utah these past five years, her heart is still on the prairies.                   

In 2016, Solmes towed a vintage trailer west on a photography voyage home to Saskatchewan, first to the Qu’Appelle Valley, on to the Great Sandhills, then positioned herself in Grasslands National Park with the intention of honing her night photography skills. Alas, to make a long story short, Solmes lost her car key in the tall grass, vandalized her car to retrieve a spare key, packed up and headed to the closest auto mechanic for repairs, without a single night shot.

Solmes welcomes a second chance to capture the night skies of Saskatchewan and to rekindle her passion for the prairie landscape.