Harry Palmer was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1930. Palmer graduated from the University Of British Columbia in Applied Science (Mechanical Engineering) in 1951. Upon returning to Calgary he began a career in professional engineering that took him to locations across North America including Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and the Arctic Islands.

 

In the latter years of Palmer's engineering career he was responsible for the environmental affairs of his employers. It was then that he developed the skills and concepts of documentary photography. At the end of 1984 Palmer retired from the oil and gas industry to apply himself fully to my photography.

 

Palmer studied under various photographers including Dr. Harry Thompson and Paul Caponigro. He looked at the work of great painter to understand light, colour and composition, and learned technique through trial and error. When the film era ended, Palmer had already moved on to digital imaging.

 

The scope of this work includes portraits of Calgarians, Canadian War Veterans, First Nations people, and Companions of the Order Of Canada, as well as locations across Canada.   Palmer's work has been exhibited internationally and can be found in the collections of the National Gallery Of Canada (Canadian Museum Of Contemporary Photography), the National Library and Archives Of Canada, the Bibliothéque Nationale de France, the University Of British Columbia, the Glenbow and Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park. The Pikanni of Treaty 7 have honoured Palmer with a name “mistaki spita” and a headdress, courtesy of Chief Reg Crowshoe, Chief Leonard Bastien and Herman Many Guns.