Chelsee Ivan is a Calgary-based photographer whose practice moves between portraiture, editorial work, and personal documentary image-making. Grounded in care, empathy, and collaboration, their work is attentive to the emotional atmosphere of both people and place. Alongside portrait sessions for individuals, couples, and families, their personal work explores nostalgia, rural abandonment, and isolation through the changing landscapes and small towns of southern Alberta.
I acknowledge that I make photographs as a guest on Treaty 7 territory, on the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy — Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani — as well as the Tsuut’ina Nation and the Stoney Nakoda Nations, including Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney. At the core of my practice is the recognition that I am a guest on these lands. I honour the peoples who have cared for and tended this land since time immemorial, and this shapes both my creative practice and how I move through daily life. I share this acknowledgement with gratitude and a commitment to remain open to learning, to act with respect, and to uphold my responsibilities on this land.