Ken Woroner welcomes the public to his exhibit at the Inverness County Centre for the Arts. The show is on display until December 14th.
November 5, 2025
-by Beverley Phillips
Photographer Ken Woroner took the audience at his talk for the opening of his exhibit at the Inverness County Centre for the Arts (ICCA) on a journey through his life and work on Sunday afternoon.
Some may know Woroner as a volunteer at the Margaree outdoor pizza oven, but he has photographed some of the biggest names in Hollywood. And while his photo albums include the likes of Donald Sutherland and Glenn Close, they are not the focus of the show.
The show is entitled dérive | drift | mili-ala’simk. A dérive is described by the exhibit as a psychogeographic journey, “an unplanned trip through an urban or natural environment, guided by one’s emotions and subconscious rather than a set route. It’s a way to explore the emotional and psychological impact of a place, often revealing hidden histories and personal connections. The goal is to experience the environment in a new way, leading to unexpected discoveries and a deeper understanding of both place and self.”
The images on display cover the themes of home, the road, and journeys. These ideas are captured in a variety of ways, in images of local landscapes, and in observing our seasons, including the big ice, which he loves. Some of the images are of people and places that just spoke to him. And then there are others who are among his favourite people, captured on film over the years.
The heart of the project is described on ICCA’s website. It “is the idea that everything is connected – people, places, histories, and experiences – all intertwined and juxtaposed across time and place.”
His talk on Sunday afternoon encompassed both the show and his commercial work, or “candy” as he called it. He feels the two are completely unrelated. His film and TV work is very technical and precise, and comes with particular constraints. “The show,” he said, “is the opposite of that. It’s an antidote to the constraints of commercial work and a chance to present photos of my own in a creative context.”
He didn’t go into a lot of detail as he went through the images, as he wants people to look at the photos and make their own connections.
He did give some background to the photos from Ukraine, though. In 1938, his father was 18 and lived in what was then Poland (now Ukraine). Seeing what was happening in the world around him, he ran away. He took the train to Marseille, France, and then got on a boat and went to Tangier, Morocco, where he stayed until 1944. He then made his way to Canada. Woroner retraced that trip and included some of those images in the show.
After talking about the exhibit, Woroner switched gears to his work as an on-set stills photographer for film and TV. In terms of the film photos, he said, “I’m not a fan of celebrity culture, even though I help create it. It’s really a distraction. But I have huge respect for the performers, and I get to be right beside incredibly talented people while they are doing their thing. And it’s fascinating to be on a film set and see how it’s done. I consider myself lucky that I get paid to do that.”
As an on-set stills photographer, his job is to take shots that look like they come from the movie or TV show, though they are never in it, as he is not part of the camera crew. But these are the images that get released to the public as promotional material, in magazines, on social media, and on posters.
He showed a number of images, telling stories as he went, from the last movie he worked on, the new Frankenstein movie with Oscar Isaac. “This movie,” he said, “was fun and beautiful to photograph because of the costumes, the sets, the actors, and the lighting.”
Moving on from Frankenstein, he showed photographs from his decades in film and TV, including some great behind-the-scenes shots, and shared some of the tricks of the trade.
He also shared a few stories about his time with some of the actors. There was the afternoon he hung out with Omar Sharif while doing a remake of The 10 Commandments, and Sharif reminisced about how this was the same desert that he made Lawrence of Arabia in. And then there was the story of how Donald Sutherland warmed up to him over their shared love of the Montreal Expos.
On the celebrities he has worked with, he said, “I don’t really like to photo name drop, but when this is your job, it just happens.”
He concluded the talk with a few thank yous. He first thanked the community for the warm welcome he received from them, having moved to the area seven years ago. He, then, thanked ICCA and everyone there who helped make the show happen or who offered to help. And last, but not least, he thanked his partner, Tamara.
Speaking to Woroner after his talk, he said that the nature of his family history drew him to photography, in particular, photos from World War II. He was always absorbed by photos and, while he knows better now, saw them as the unadulterated truth. But unlike young people today, he did not grow up with the camera in his pocket everywhere he went. It wasn’t until he was at McGill taking his BA that he had the chance to use one, and he used it on a trip. He loved it and thought that he might become a photojournalist. He took a course in black-and-white photography, which only deepened his love of the art. “To see an image come up as you are developing it,” he said, “it is just magic.”
But he was sensible and got a “straight” job after he graduated. His interest in photography remained, though, and he dabbled in it, sending photos to NOW magazine. But there came a point when he decided that he wanted to do more than dabble, and he went back to school for technical training.
He knew that making a living as a photographer was tough, but he learned that the film industry uses photographers, and he thought, “I could get a job doing that.” He started doing some independent work, and then he got into the union and got involved in both big and small projects. “I got lucky,” Woroner said. “I made connections, and it all kind of snowballed from there. I’ve been really lucky to do what I do.”
Woroner has called Cape Breton home for the last seven years. He and his wife left Toronto, ready for a new chapter in their lives. And while he still works on big film projects, he is very happy to help people make pizza at the Margaree outdoor pizza oven. It was a rough year for it with the fire ban, but, he said, “I think we are hoping to do a couple more times if the weather holds. It’s a great time of year for it. Standing beside the oven keeps you nice and warm.”
So do give Woroner a visit at the pizza oven if it’s open (check the Margaree Community Oven Facebook page for details), but also check out his exhibit at the Inverness County Centre for the Arts in Inverness. The show runs until December 14th, and they are open Tuesday to Sunday, 12 p.m. to 5 pm.
