Richard Johnson | Ice Huts | Toronto (CA) | By Emma Harrison

The simple ice fishing hut is a familiar sight across the snowy plains of Canada and serves an essential purpose; it must be weather resistant, easily transportable and provide basic shelter and access to the ground below.  Travelling around icy terrain and exploring the differences between ice hut architecture between provinces, photographer Richard Johnson created his Ice Huts project in order to document Canada’s ice fishing culture.

Now in its 8^th year, the project contains more than 725 images of individual huts across nine provinces (top left: Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta; top right: Anglin Lake, Saskatchewan; bottom left: Yamachiche, Quebec; bottom right: Lake Scugog, Ontario). In 2010, Johnson began to shoot his series Ice Villages and travelled to Northern Quebec, Manitoba and New Brunswick to capture a set of wide panoramic shots that integrate the ice hut structures into the background landscape. The Ice Village series will be displayed at Bulthaup until April 18th 2015 as part of the Toronto Design Offsite Festival, happening this week (January 19^th-25^th).

If you’re in town this Sunday, don’t miss the complimentary Artist Talk & Brunch with Richard himself.