Rita Leistner
January 24 to May 31, 2026
Nicola Wealth Gallery
Each year, thousands of people head to remote camps across British Columbia to take on the demanding work of reforestation. For months at a time, they plant trees by hand in terrain that is uneven, rocky, and cluttered with debris from past logging, and in many areas visibly shaped by the growing impact of forest fires. In her series of large scale photographs, Montreal-based artist Rita Leistner explores endurance, environmental care, and the hard work people do behind the scenes to help nature recover, showing how contemporary portraiture can honour these efforts and deepen our connection to the natural world.
Rita Leistner is a Canadian photographer and filmmaker who spent a decade working as a tree planter, planting over five hundred thousand trees during that time. In the 2000s, she was active as a photojournalist, most notably covering the Iraq War. She is widely recognized for her 2021 documentary film Forest for the Trees, which earned her a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Cinematography in a Documentary at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.
Organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Rita Leistner: The Tree Planters is curated by John Geoghegan, Curator, McMichael Canadian Art Collection.
Presented with support from:
Video
Forest For The Trees — THE FILM TRAILER
Returning to her roots in the rugged mountain wilderness of British Columbia, Canada, an award-winning war photographer and former tree planter turns her expert lens on herself and a community of tree planters who overcome grueling conditions and emotional difficulties to bring back the forest one tree at a time. Driven by the perseverance and vulnerability of its subjects as much as by the harsh beauty of the landscape, Forest for the Trees is a visually and emotionally arresting film about photography, tree planting and the human condition.
View the full film in the exhibition The Tree Planters.
Images
