Tara Nicholson Opens a Door on Marijuana

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Tara Nicholson, “Hidden Room,” 2017

limited edition archival pigment print, 42” x 42”

Tara Nicholson is curious about the world and she lets that curiosity steer her photography practice. Her latest exhibition, Cultivate, on view at the Vernon Public Art Gallery until Dec. 20, is a case in point. In it, she explores British Columbia’s marijuana grow operations, documenting spaces she describes as bizarre or otherworldly with their dense foliage, bright lights, dangling wires and high humidity. “It’s a very constructed, man-made, artificial environment,” she says.

Nicholson, who is based in Victoria, came of age in the 1990s, when pot cultivation was shrouded in secrecy and people whispered about neighbours suspected of having plants in their basements. Some of her friends have worked harvesting pot, or even started their own grows. But when she started this project three years ago, she had never seen a grow op firsthand. Nicholson started asking around, chatting with friends of friends and trying to learn more about the province’s thriving pot industry while making the connections that would get her access.

The availability of medical marijuana, along with the federal government’s decision to legalize recreational pot as soon as next summer, means the sector's notorious secrecy is starting to abate. That made it possible to for Nicholson to photograph grow operations around the province, including Vancouver Island and the Okanagan. The series is straightforward and documentary, largely devoid of recognizable people. “It looks at the reality of what these spaces are like,” says Nicholson.

In one image, a man in a white spray suit and mask checks the plants. Another photo shows a pair of trimmers at work, their backs turned to the camera. Incubation domes filled with clones and dripping with condensation are stacked on metal shelves. Buds the size of brussels sprouts dry on improvised door-sized shelves stacked atop plastic pots. There are several outdoors scenes showing not only plants but greenhouses amid the larger landscape.

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Tara Nicholson, “Spray Suit,” 2017

limited edition archival pigment print, 42” x 52”

It’s the first time Nicholson has exhibited these images, which speak to her larger interest in demystifying hidden worlds. Her best-known body of work, Arctic Claims, explores the realities of researchers she met in Greenland and the Canadian Arctic as she followed her curiosity about the science behind dire headlines about climate change. Arctic Claims was exhibited at the Burnaby Art Gallery earlier this year, and three works from the series are included in a group show, Water, at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria until Jan. 7.

Nicholson sees parallels between her Arctic images and those of the B.C. grow ops. “These rooms seemed somehow similar to scientific spaces,” she says in an interview in the exhibition catalogue. “Often hidden, highly specialized and specific environments, these spaces are unlike any space I had photographed before. The lighting, temperature, airflow and humidity within these sterile spaces are all designed to cultivate the highest yields in the shortest period of time from a wide variety of different cannabis strains. Many of the lights are either homemade (with crazy reflectors and materials) or highly specialized, which are incredibly expensive.”

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Tara Nicholson, “Clone Room,” 2017

limited edition archival pigment print, 42” x 42”

With government regulatory changes afoot, marijuana production is shifting to a larger scale. In some neighbourhoods, distribution outlets are starting to outnumber liquor stores. Nicholson, who uses medium-format film for her images, has plans to continue the series. She hopes her images encourage people to discuss a variety of health and safety issues.

As Lubos Culen, curator of the Vernon Art Gallery notes in his exhibition essay, labour conditions are among the issues raised by Nicholson’s work. “Considering all of the conditions of clandestine operations, the questions of how the workers are employed and how they are found also come to the forefront of Nicholson’s inquiry,” he writes.

“The workers must be skilled in a particular type of work, reliable because of the secrecy surrounding the grow ops, but also hard working. The hired workers are often young people attracted to the good pay and often they move from one grow op to another, just like the fruit pickers in the Okanagan Valley moving from orchard to orchard.”

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Tara Nicholson, "Summer Plants," 2017

limited edition archival pigment print, 42" x 42"

Nicholson, who teaches part-time at the University of Victoria, says producers, uncertain how long they will be around as the regulatory environment shifts, are pushing production schedules, trying to maximize profits or at least offset start-up costs. While most of the spaces she visited were legal, she said none had been inspected. She noticed some operations use heavy doses of fertilizers and pesticides, while others are trying to grow organically.

“I have seen all different age groups of people use cannabis for both pain relief and relaxation, and think there is a need for the legalization of its use,” says Nicholson. “I definitely think people should be aware of what environment, pesticides, fertilizers and other products are being used … especially if they are using it on a regular basis or for medical purposes.”