'44 Steps'
by Donna Allen
Saturday, April 4 - Thursday, April 23
Vernissage: Sunday, April 12   1:00 - 4:00 pm

donnalallen.com/

Donna Allen is a Canadian photographer whose work explores resilience, reflection, and solitude. Based in Carleton Place, Ontario, she works primarily in monochrome, using an interpretive documentary approach that relies on light, shadow, and contrast to shape mood and meaning. Photography has long been a personal pursuit for Donna. She is drawn to fleeting, often-overlooked moments and creates images—whether landscapes or abstract spaces—that invite viewers to pause and contemplate. Her work blends the real with the interpretive, encouraging imagination beyond what is seen. Donna’s military career broadened her artistic perspective. Travel through diverse regions exposed her to different environments and human experiences, deepening her understanding of resilience in people and places. These moments of solitude and reflection continue to inform her visual language.
Largely self-taught, Donna is mentored by Michael Tardioli as part of Altern Studio, a group of lens-based artists, at the School of Photography Arts: Ottawa, where she embraces experimentation and abstraction. Her portfolio balances clarity and ambiguity, marked by quiet strength and stillness.
​What began as a personal passion has become an intentional practice. Donna’s images reveal inner landscapes shaped by memory and emotion, inviting viewers to consider the subtle power of solitude and the beauty found within it.
The exhibition will feature selected monochrome images from 44 Steps: a deployment printed on cotton rag and displayed in various formats, alongside an immersive installation incorporating imagery, sound, light, and tactile elements, with copies of the book available for sale.