The Canadian Experience

Through his Canadian Mosaic Project, photographer Tim Van Horn of Red Deer, Alta., attempts to capture the essence of what makes Canada the special place we call home.

Everyone dreams of that endless road trip across Canada from coast to coast, but so few of us embark on what should be a right of passage, a pilgrimage bound to our citizenship. Personally, I had to wait 40 years before I set out across Canada from my home here in Red Deer. When I did set out, it was in a newly camperized GMC full sized van heading east into the heart of Canada.

What began as a well-intended, but somewhat aimless, one year journey to capture a photographic “day in the life” look at Canada, became a decade-long, life-changing, creative quest to unite an authentic, multifaceted face of Canada.

One wife, two dogs, three vans and five trips across Canada (without a spare tire) later, 54,000 portraits from 1,200 communities have been taken and woven together—making it the largest portrait ever amassed in Canadian history.

With a new adventure around each new bend, the weeks flowed into months and the months into years. My time was spent wandering across the nation, extending myself in goodwill to complete strangers of all ages and nationalities. I respectfully challenged everyone I came across to believe in my desire to unite the nation—by having their portrait taken.