The Beer Parlour Project 10.0 - Chipman Hotel

It's hard to believe that we have already documented TEN locations for the Beer Parlour Project.  In addition to this, there are four more that we have made return visits to.  Of course with Margarit and I living in Edmonton, and our friends and collaborators Chris and Connie living down in Calgary, the logistics of planning these visits is a little more involved.  But we are not in any rush, and the project is expected to evolve for up to a decade.

On Friday February 2nd I met Chris and Connie in the town of Chipman.  Sadly, Margarit was unable to join us on this occasion.  We dropped in at the Chipman Hotel.  We met the owner Dave, who was very accommodating and very hospitable.  On this night they made up a large batch of hot dogs, smokies and chili, and these were free for all the patrons.  We hung around for the entire evening and took a number of portraits with the big camera.  There was a pretty good crowd in attendance and we enjoyed meeting them, and the opportunity to photograph those that were willing to pose for the big camera.  We also did a couple of the typical shots of the exterior of the building.  Later in the evening a heavy fog rolled in and Chris managed to capture a couple of really moody images.  I've included those here as well, but can't take credit for them as they were taken by Chris.

The Beer Parlour Project is a long term documentary project being undertaken by Fine Art Photographer Rob Pohl and his wife Margarit, from Edmonton.  Working along side them are Chris Doering and Connie Biggart, friends, historians, researchers and photographers from Calgary, Alberta.  We are travelling to locations throughout western Canada to document small town hotel taverns.  Not only are we fascinated by the history of these places, but we are also intrigued by the current evolution of these establishments as the gathering place that they have become in many small towns.  We are meeting and visiting and photographing the current owners and their patrons.  We respect the fact that some do not wish to have their picture taken, and there is no pressure.  Those that oblige us and allow photographs to be taken, may someday find their image included in some part of our project.  This is in addition to the research that is undertaken to uncover the past history of these places, some over a century old.  The project has an online presence and a website is in the works which will follow the path of our explorations.  In the future we are also planning to put together a gallery exhibition of photographs, and eventually a book.  The project was originally conceived in 2019, but the Pandemic put things on hold for a while.  Our first trip was in July of 2022 when we visited the Hidden Gem Tavern in Egremont, Alberta.  It is anticipated that the project will continue for most of the next decade.