The StarPhoenix: Milne Embraced Nature

By Jeremy Warren, The StarPhoenix September 1, 2010

Celebrated Saskatchewan nature photographer Courtney Milne died Sunday at his acreage near Grandora. He was 66.

Milne, diagnosed with cancer in 2009, died at his rural home "surrounded by the beauty and the natural world" that became an obsession and passion during a 35-year photography career that spanned all seven continents, his family says.

"Courtney was loved by everybody," said his wife, Sherrill Miller, in an interview Monday. "He had such a joy and exuberance and passion for life. He touched so many people in that way and that's his legacy: His joy of living and being in nature."

Milne published 12 photography books, including the best-selling The Sacred Earth, which included a forward written by the Dalai Lama.

His last book, Saskatchewan: The Luminous Landscape, was published in 2005 for the province's centennial celebration and perhaps now serves as the fitting end to a storied career that started on the Prairies.

"Courtney is known for being the first photographer to extoll the beauty of the Prairies," Miller said.

"People know him for his love of the land. He's an ambassador of the land."

Born in 1943 in Saskatoon, Milne spent much of his life in or near the city. He earned a psychology degree from the University of Saskatchewan.

In 1975, he had a profound experience when depression from a failed marriage pushed him, literally, to the edge of death before he turned to his saving grace, photography.

During a sleepless night, Milne walked into a snowstorm and to the edge of a river.

"I desperately wanted the river to embrace me in its depths," Milne wrote on his website. "But that night its surface was completely frozen over, so I was thwarted, even in my wish to end it all."

He walked to the bus depot for an early breakfast and convinced himself that his life needed radical change. He quit his job, grabbed his camera and dog, Sasha, and moved to a small home on the outskirts of Saskatoon.

For the next 35 years, Milne travelled the world to find images in sacred and exotic places and he was just as comfortable taking photos of a pool in his backyard.

His work has appeared in more than 200 exhibitions, including the Royal Ontario Museum and a United Nations travelling exhibition.

In 2005, Milne received an honorary degree from the University of Regina. He was named among the 100 most influential graduates of the U of S college of arts and science.

Photography led Milne to other opportunities. He was an author, educator, lecturer and philanthropist.

"His message was find your own sacred place and honour it, whether that's your own backyard or a park down the street or a piece of wilderness," Miller said.

A 10-month expedition around the world in 1988-89 was one of Milne's favourite photo trips. Miller had joined him on the trip, which marked the beginning of their personal and professional relationship.

The couple, married for 20 years, was a team in life and in business. Miller often did research, some writing and the text accompanying Milne's photos, and helped with his promotional material.

Milne and Miller were working on Pool of Possibilities, a collection of 40,000 photographs of reflections in his backyard pool, when Milne died.

The couple was preparing for an exhibition at the Mendel Art Gallery, which will host the show sometime in 2011.

The collection's photos are abstract, cosmic looking and impressionist. The images are reminiscent of Monet, Milne's favourite painter.

"He tried see the world anew everyday," Miller said. "He can take 40,000 images of one small space and they're all different. What does that say about how the rest of us can look around and see the world differently?"

For the last 10 years, Milne focused almost solely on the Pool of Possibilities project, and he spent his last year in a wheelchair editing photos and creating new images. Miller read a poem Milne wrote about the project:

"He searched the world over and what did he find, that Earth's greatest treasure is the eye of the mind. For when he came home as wise as a Fool, he found the whole world right there in his pool."

A celebration of Milne's life is planned for early October.

jjwarren@sp.canwest.com