Sarah Palmer

Sarah Palmer is a photographer based in Toronto whose work straddles the realm of journalism and fine art, questioning the conventional limits that both of these worlds hold for the viewer and artist alike. She explores pop culture and current events with a focus on the subcultures that these gatherings draw in. Palmer composes multi-frame exposures in camera, with no manipulation in post. By building layers of stories on the same piece of film, she creates a strong sense of environment while weaving together contrasts and similarities in the subject matter she’s photographing. She is a National Magazine Awards winner, Flash Forward and American Photography winner. Her work was included in TIME‘s Top 100 Photos of 2019, and has been generously supported by the Ontario Arts Council. Palmer’s work has been exhibited in galleries and exhibitions internationally including the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and Gallery TPW.

Sarah Palmer
Sarah Palmer, Lido Deck, Caribbean, 2018, from the series Wish You Were Here. Courtesy of the artist. “Cruise ships often dispose of harmful bilge water, by dumping it into the ocean, generating the same amount of sulphur dioxide fumes as 13.1 million cars per day.”

From the Archives

  • 2023 / core / exhibition / outdoor

    Sarah Palmer
    Wish You Were Here

    Summerville Olympic Pools
    In Wish You Were Here, Toronto-based photographer Sarah Palmer documents the world of “last-chance” cruise tourism, where passengers seek leisure time through voyages to destinations adversely affected by the climate crisis. Printed in larger-than-life scale at the waterfront-facing Donald D. Summerville Pools facility, Palmer's photographs immerse viewers in the experience of traveling alongside happy vacationers, passing through fading coral reefs, disappearing glaciers, and what remains of endangered species—all aboard a vessel that further accelerates these negative environmental impacts.
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