Requiem
Christine Fitzgerald

Christine Fitzgerald’s debut photobook, Requiem, is a visual meditation on the fragile wonder of life and the legacy of natural history practices that have contributed our understanding of the natural world. Drawing on her residencies at the Geological Survey of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Nature, and the Natural History Museum in England, the book is inspired by her longstanding fascination with historical catalogues and collections.

Collaborating closely with museum staff, Fitzgerald immersed herself in collectors’ archives—poring over scientific notes, diaries, letters, provenance histories, and classification records. She photographed once-living specimens on site, then transformed these images in her Ottawa studio, using 19^th– and early 20^th century photographic methods to handcraft prints and plates. This unique fusion of past and present, not only honours the ingenuity of early photographic pioneers, but also confronts the urgent realities of extinction and loss in our time.

At its core, Requiem is an elegy—a visual lament for what has been lost and a warning for what we stand to lose. By presenting each specimen with reverence and artistry, Fitzgerald rekindles our sense of wonder and invites us to reflect on our responsibilities as stewards of the natural world. In an era of increasing ecological uncertainty, Requiem stands as both a tribute and a challenge: to remember, to imagine–and above all–to refuse the unthinkable loss of the word’s irreplaceable beauty.

Christine Fitzgerald is a photo-based artist from Ottawa, Canada. Her work investigates how photographs shape our perceptions of time, loss, and impermanence. Her practice is distinguished by the integration of nineteenth-century photographic processes with digital technologies, expanding the medium’s expressive possibilities and resulting in work that is both visually distinctive and conceptually rich.

A graduate of the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa, and Acadia and Dalhousie Universities, Fitzgerald completed residencies at the Ottawa School of Art, York University, the Geological Survey of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Nature, and the Natural History Museum in England. In 2017, she participated as a visual artist on the Canada C3 Expedition on Canada’s 150^th anniversary to the country’s three coasts. Inspired by her experience on the St. Lawrence River, she created a body of work which was exhibited nationally and internationally.

Her work has appeared in over 40 solo and group exhibitions in Canada and abroad, including New York City, Washington, Frankfurt and Barcelona. Her photographs are held in private collections worldwide and in public collections such as Global Affairs Canada, Library and Archives Canada, the City of Ottawa, Queen’s University, and the Government of Ontario.

Supported by grants from the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition, her work has been featured by CBC/Radio-Canada, The Washington Post and National Geographic. Recognitions include the 2016 International Fine Art Photographer of the Year and in 2023, she received the prestigious Karsh Award from the City of Ottawa for her significant contributions to photography. In 2024, Fitzgerald was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.