Beer Parlour Project - BP21.0 Dan Doris and Sharon
Kodak T-Max 400, 4" x 5", 1250 iso, Pushed development in T-Max Developer, 1:4, 8:35 minutes, 24C. Taken March 2025. Ebony SV45TE. Nikkor W 210mm Lens. No Filter.
The Beer Parlour Project is a long term documentary project that celebrates small town hotel taverns. Together with my colleague Chris Doering, I am exploring and documenting small town hotels across western Canada. These fascinating places are quickly disappearing, and we want to document and celebrate the ones that remain. The project commenced in 2019, just in time for the pandemic to bring things to a halt. We restarted in 2022 when the restrictions were lifted and these establishments were allowed to reopen.
I was looking for something different to shoot, and thought this project would challenge me. Although some of the images show the exterior of these old hotels, most of the images are portraits of the patrons and owners. We are recording and celebrating the people that keep these places alive. I've quickly learned that it is an enormous challenge to shoot film with a view camera in a Beer Parlour. The lighting is typically terrible to non-existent. The fastest films available are 400iso, and the fastest lenses that I own are F5.6. Although I typically push the films to 1250 or 1600iso, and compensate in development, this typically yields shutter speeds in the range of 1/4 second and longer... up to a full second. Consider the fact that most subjects have been indulging a little and they struggle to hold still for that long. Many of the images are ruined by subject movement or focusing errors in the low light conditions. But I've come away with some great photographs.
The project is a ton of fun. By the end of 2025 we had visited 39 separate establishments, several of them more than once. Our goal is to continue exploring until we have visited at least one hundred. At that point there will be a gallery exhibition and perhaps a coffee table book.
Let me tell you, when you walk into a small town bar with a view camera on a big wood tripod, you are instantly the center of attention. There is no problem finding willing subjects. Occasionally some guests prefer not to be photographed, and that is respected.
My colleague Chris is a historian, researcher and digital photographer. He interviews the locals to get some background on the history of these old places, as well as some insight into the establishment's current role in the community. Some of his digital photographs are used to round out the project. Occasionally a guest photographer joins us on these outings. We just visited our 40th and 41st hotels this past weekend, and have a trip to Saskatchewan planned in April. More information can be found on our website at... www.beerparlourproject.com
This was taken during our visit to the Acme Hotel in Acme, Alberta. This was Beer Parlour Project outing number BP21.0. The 21st hotel that we explored, and the first one in 2025. This is Dan and his partner Doris, patrons of the tavern and friends of the owner, Sharon. The ongoing maintenance in this old building is a challenge and the business struggles to make a go of it.
Beer Parlour Project - BP21.0 Dan Doris and Sharon
Kodak T-Max 400, 4" x 5", 1250 iso, Pushed development in T-Max Developer, 1:4, 8:35 minutes, 24C. Taken March 2025. Ebony SV45TE. Nikkor W 210mm Lens. No Filter.
The Beer Parlour Project is a long term documentary project that celebrates small town hotel taverns. Together with my colleague Chris Doering, I am exploring and documenting small town hotels across western Canada. These fascinating places are quickly disappearing, and we want to document and celebrate the ones that remain. The project commenced in 2019, just in time for the pandemic to bring things to a halt. We restarted in 2022 when the restrictions were lifted and these establishments were allowed to reopen.
I was looking for something different to shoot, and thought this project would challenge me. Although some of the images show the exterior of these old hotels, most of the images are portraits of the patrons and owners. We are recording and celebrating the people that keep these places alive. I've quickly learned that it is an enormous challenge to shoot film with a view camera in a Beer Parlour. The lighting is typically terrible to non-existent. The fastest films available are 400iso, and the fastest lenses that I own are F5.6. Although I typically push the films to 1250 or 1600iso, and compensate in development, this typically yields shutter speeds in the range of 1/4 second and longer... up to a full second. Consider the fact that most subjects have been indulging a little and they struggle to hold still for that long. Many of the images are ruined by subject movement or focusing errors in the low light conditions. But I've come away with some great photographs.
The project is a ton of fun. By the end of 2025 we had visited 39 separate establishments, several of them more than once. Our goal is to continue exploring until we have visited at least one hundred. At that point there will be a gallery exhibition and perhaps a coffee table book.
Let me tell you, when you walk into a small town bar with a view camera on a big wood tripod, you are instantly the center of attention. There is no problem finding willing subjects. Occasionally some guests prefer not to be photographed, and that is respected.
My colleague Chris is a historian, researcher and digital photographer. He interviews the locals to get some background on the history of these old places, as well as some insight into the establishment's current role in the community. Some of his digital photographs are used to round out the project. Occasionally a guest photographer joins us on these outings. We just visited our 40th and 41st hotels this past weekend, and have a trip to Saskatchewan planned in April. More information can be found on our website at... www.beerparlourproject.com
This was taken during our visit to the Acme Hotel in Acme, Alberta. This was Beer Parlour Project outing number BP21.0. The 21st hotel that we explored, and the first one in 2025. This is Dan and his partner Doris, patrons of the tavern and friends of the owner, Sharon. The ongoing maintenance in this old building is a challenge and the business struggles to make a go of it.