This photo essay is a collection of images taken by Toronto-based freelance photographer Johan Hallberg-Campbell during his recent deployments with the Red Cross to Moose Cree First Nation – a remote community off the James Bay coast in Northern Ontario. To see the full collection of Johan's photos from Moose Cree, visit the Red Cross Ontario Flickr page.
The photos depict the work of the Red Cross in Moose Cree First Nation, as well as the strength and spirit of the community. Included in this photo essay are images from a special ceremony that took place during the opening of the Red Cross office, and celebrations from the Gathering of Our People festival this summer. Johan has also captured the landscape of the community to give us a sense of how remote and harsh the land is – and how beautiful it is at the same time. It is these extreme conditions that makes disaster response especially challenging in James Bay coastal communities where forest fires and flooding often cause massive evacuations.
Johan, who has photographed for The Walrus, Canadian Art, Globe & Mail, and CTV among others, has been working with and volunteering for the Red Cross for four years. In that time, he has photographed Red Cross volunteers for a special photo exhibition, and has covered disasters, such as a tornado in Goderich and extensive flooding in Thunder Bay. Johan also travelled to Attawapiskat to document the Red Cross response there during a state of emergency.
In the last year, he has travelled to Moose Cree First Nations twice with the Red Cross to photograph and document the opening of the first-ever Red Cross office in a First Nations community in Ontario and the transformational work of the Red Cross in the community.