| Steve Huziak was
born in 1901 on the family homestead near the villages of
Wroxton and Calder,
Saskatchewan. A dedicated farmer, he lived on and worked that farm most of
his life. In his youth, he played the tsymbaly at dances and
weddings earning the money to buy a camera. He began taking
pictures in 1920, the sole photographer in the
area. Steve photographed his friends from the neighbouring
farms. They were the families of just a few out of thousands
of Ukrainian immigrants who settled the Canadian West. He
photographed them on their own land dressed in their Sunday
best. In his learning of the science and art of photography,
he captured on film the expressions of these
everyday people. He shared his enjoyment of photography with
them, generating Sunday-afternoon excitement in the community
− “Look, here comes Steve with his camera!”
After Steve died in 1990, his daughter Iris Kuzina salvaged
seventy-eight photographs from his farmhouse. Faded and
damaged, many have been digitally restored by Iris's daughter
Jan. These are the Prairie Faces collection showcased on this
web site.
Prairie Faces is portrait photography from a
by-gone era. It serves as a wonderful historical record and a
lasting legacy for the settlers of the Wroxton and Calder
area. message from
granddaughter Jan |
