Ryan Van Der Hout

The Banff Centre ~ Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Bldg, 204

2026 Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography Artist Talk

Leighton Artist Studios is pleased to present an artist talk by Ryan Van Der Hout, recipient of the 2026 Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography. During their awarded residency at Banff Centre, Van Der Hout will share insights into their interdisciplinary practice spanning photography, stained glass, and sculpture.

Their work investigates transformation through processes of breaking and reassembly, creating luminous portraits and large-scale installations that trace both fracture and connection. During the residency, Van Der Hout will explore the intersection of geological and human time, integrating analog darkroom processes with stained glass techniques to create new works that collapse temporal scales into unified forms.

The Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography supports one mid-career Canadian artist annually with a fully funded residency at Banff Centre. Established by the friends and family of the late artist Barbara Spohr, the award encourages the advancement of Canadian contemporary photography by providing financial and creative support to artists whose practices have made significant contributions to the field.

This event is presented in partnership with Exposure Photography Festival and made possible through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Government of Canada, Government of Alberta, and the friends and family of Barbara Spohr.

Image: Ryan Van Der Hout, Edge State, 2024. UV print on glass, solder, copper, stainless steel, varnish.  62″ x 32″ x 2″.  Unique.