Palimpsestuous National Parks

Semi-finalist 2024

This image depicts layers of mountain photographs in the background and two Adirondack chairs in the foreground.
Submitted by:Kimberly Edmonson
Department:Secondary Education
Faculty:Education

A palimpsest names the way that stories about land can be both absent and present—layers of histories both preserved and forgotten in collective memory yet remain enmeshed with each other. A palimpsest, in simultaneously preserving and erasing that which was there before, can complicate or disrupt a singular message or story. As understanding land is essential in social studies education, I asked social studies teachers to share the stories they lean on to name, teach, and think about the land situated within the boundaries of Canada’s national parks system. Their stories are palimpsestuous—invoking layers upon layers of both opaque and vivid, yet always-already enmeshed stories about our national parks. This image, which comprises a variety of views at Old Fort Point in Jasper National Park is composed from over twenty layers of opaque and color-saturated photographs.

Was your image created using Generative AI?
No.

How was your image created?
This image, which comprises a variety of views at Old Fort Point in Jasper National Park is composed from over twenty layers of photographs. Using Adobe Photoshop, I adjusted the opacity and intensity of the photographs, and repositioned them in relation to each other to produce a dizzying, disrupted and distorted effect.