As a child, I dreamed of being an adventurer, a scientist, a biologist and all kinds of other imaginary careers that would allow me to spend my days in the wild studying animals and plants. Sort of a cross between Indiana Jones and Snow White—and able to communicate with animals! However, I had to face the reality that I was terrible at science. As I was feeling overwhelmed in math and physics and lagging behind in biology, it was made clear that a scientific path was not opening up for me and I opted to study literature and cinema instead. But my dreams of nature had not disappeared.

I was a little lost at university, but then an email from the film department changed my life. Parks Canada was looking for students to fill videographer positions during the summer. The next few weeks were a frenzy between the end of semester and the application process. Suddenly, I was packing my bags and preparing to leave the house for the first time with a small PowerShot compact camera in hand. Until that summer, I had intended to get into video production and cinema. But as I was exploring the unusual and fabulous landscapes of the islands of the Mingan archipelago, in the province of Quebec, I began to gravitate towards my camera. Suddenly, I wanted to photograph rather than film.

I returned from this experience transformed; I had a new passion, and more than that, I was reconnected with my childhood dreams. My role as photographer and videographer in Mingan had opened the door to a world that I thought was inaccessible. Throughout the summer, I had met and worked with scientists and conservation officers. I had taken part in inventories of species at risk and I had documented, with my camera, the presence of many animal and plant species specific to the park’s ecosystem. I had learned their names, their characteristics and I could identify them.