Dream City of America

The archeological battlefields at Louisbourg – the
great port city of New France on Cape Breton
Island, Nova Scotia – are amongst the best
preserved 18th century siege landscapes in the
world. Dream City of America is a series of large
handprinted black and white panoramic
photocomposites that explore the history and
mythology that is steeped in the land. The
fortified town has been partially reconstructed,
however, the remainder of Louisbourg’s vast heath
lands, coastlines and fields remain untouched and
have been left to the ravages of time and nature.

Waterloo-based photographer Dave Fisher has spent
the past five years wading through bogs and
crawling under brush to seek out and document
visual clues about Canada’s early history and the
lost stories that haunt these surroundings.
Inspired by panoramic period illustrations, Dream
City of America uncovers little known ghost sites
buried under moss, ferns and fir trees.

This timely exhibition coincides with the 250th
anniversary of the last fall of Louisbourg.