Olga's Pics

Several years ago, Olga donated some of her photographs to the late Lou Thibault of Timmins, then editor of The Freighter. (The Freighter was a weekly newspaper for the people western James and south-western Hudson Bay.) When Lou died, so did The Freighter. Olga then entrusted these photographs to me. We thank Lou's widow, Mimie, for her generous assistance.

Olga dedicates her photographs to . . . "the People of the Bays."

What does Olga want viewers to take with them when they look at her photographs? Olga says: "They are memories, frozen in time for all to enjoy."

So . . . enjoy. . . and appreciate . . . and learn.

Who's Olga?

Olga Leskiw arrived in Moose Factory in 1974 as a public health nurse. In 1975 she met Nori Suzuki . . . and they were married in 1976. Olga and Nori lived in Moose Factory until 1986.

As a wedding gift, Nori gave Olga a Nikon FM3 35 mm camera. She took a photography course from Northern College because she "didn't understand what all the buttons meant." From taking photographs, Olga "graduated to developing photos and using various techniques in the darkroom . . . much of it self-taught."

In her role as public health nurse, Olga frequently travelled to the First Nation communities of western James and south-western Hudson Bays. She always had her camera with her, and took photos "whenever the opportunity presented itself, and it presented itself often!"

Olga Liskew-Suzuki,and her soul mate Nori, now live in Mexico and travel the globe. They can be reached by email at olgaandnori@hotmail.com

Status of this project:

2002-2003:       158 JPG images were scanned to CD (courtesy of NIPWORKS and Tanya Corbin). Copies of this CD have been sent to the Chiefs and Councils of the Mushkegowuk First Nations.