Kamloopa Powwow through a Secwépemc lens

Candice Camille didn’t set out to become a photographer. She picked up a camera because she needed a way to show people what her husband does as a horse trainer.

“I had a pretty basic point-and-shoot camera, and that’s kind of how I started, was with this drive of wanting to show what I see and make that come across in a photo,” Camille tells The Wren.

Her images from past years are featured in the flyers, posters and social media for Kamloopa Powwow each year with Camille’s signature emotive play on light.

“It has been really cool. I love seeing them printed,” she says. “Thousands and thousands of people get to see that work.”

The Kamloopa Powwow is a three-day gathering held annually at the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc Special Events Facility, also known as the Arbour, featuring hundreds of dancers and drummers from across Turtle Island.

Part of Camille’s strength as a Kamloopa photographer is knowing the venue. 

“I know I want to hit a certain side of the arbour because of the way the sun will come through,” she explains.

Catching the light just right is a part of the magic; each ray only shines through for a short period of time.  

“I like to chase the light,” she says, “I want to bring that light and shadows, and that contrast — I want them to play against each other to really bring a photo and that story in that moment. I want people to feel that moment when they look at my images.”

She went out Friday night this year, but the sunset was flat, so she shot video instead. She returned Saturday and caught the light she was after.

Saturday’s images cover the Intertribal entry, when everyone from the crowd was invited into the centre to dance alongside the competitors. By the time the categories began, the sun had already set.

Camille grew up in Skeetchestn Indian Band, about 45 minutes from Kamloops, and has lived in Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc for years with her husband, Jordan Camille. Between his horse training business and her photography, she said the hardest and most rewarding part is building her skillset on her own.

A decade ago, when Camille picked up a camera to photograph her husband’s horsemanship, it was before smartphones made photography easy. 

Camille is entirely self-taught, learning her camera through YouTube and years of trial and error.

“You could take a million photos, and a lot of them suck,” she said. “You have to really build on it to figure out how to get what you’re seeing.”

Camille still runs her Facebook page under the name Heart and Spirit of Horses, a name she picked years before Candace Camille Photography became her business. 

Her business covers plenty of assignments — corporate events, weddings, she says. But the powwow photos give her the energy and inspiration to keep going.

“The powwow stuff on the side is just really the kind of thing that gives me pictures that fill my heart,” she says. “I’m not going in there with an agenda. It’s not a job.”