The Snow Is Salt examines the role played by William Notman, a photographer based out of Montreal during Canada’s formative years, in shaping the country’s national identity. In the work, his photographs are cut, duplicated, restaged and redacted to create new images, ones more telling of how Notman’s archive functions in a contemporary context.


When reproduced as digital prints, the tape and other alterations no longer function as additions or subtractions from the image. Integrating with the source material they create a unified surface, one of an image in conflict with itself, a trompe l’oeil waiting to fail. The reworked studio setups and installations become sites displaying their own performativity , their own artifice and their own inability to function as their predecessors once did. The works seek not to denounce Notman’s images or notions of national identity, rather they call for a reappraisal of their functionality today.

Greg McCarthy after william notman

Caribou (After William Notman)

Digital Print

16" x 20"

2014

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After William Notman
Greg McCarthy
Collage
Photography
Art
2015
Toronto

Snowshoes (After William Notman) 
Digital Print 

30" x 40"
2015

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Greg McCarthy after william notman

Top Hat (After William Notman)
Digital Print

30" x 40"
2015

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Greg McCarthy after william notman

Seamless (After William Notman)

Digital Print

16" x 20"
2014

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Greg McCarthy after william notman

Skaters (After William Notman)
Digital Print

16" x 20"
2015

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Clean Up (After William Notman)
Digital Print 

16" x 20"
2015

Greg McCarthy

Clean Up (After William Notman)
Digital Print 

16" x 20"
2015

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Twins (After William Notman)

Digital Print 

24" x 24"

2015

Greg McCarthy

Twins (After William Notman)

Digital Print 

24" x 24"

2015

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Cut Out (After William Notman)

Digital Print

16" x 20"
2014

Greg McCarthy

Cut Out (After William Notman)

Digital Print

16" x 20"

2014

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Tape Study 1 (After William Notman)

Collage and Tape

4" x 6.5"
2014

Greg McCarthy

Tape Study 1 (After William Notman)

Collage and Tape

4" x 6.5"
2014

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After William Notman
Greg McCarthy
Collage
Photography
Art
2015
Toronto

Storage Room
Digital Print 

16" x 20"

2015

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Greg McCarthy after william notman

Riflemen (After William Notman)

Collage On Paper

11" x 14"

2014

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Living Room (After William Notman)
Digital Print
10" x 15"
2015

Greg McCarthy

Living Room (After William Notman)
Digital Print
10" x 15"
2015

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Tape Study 3 (After William Notman)

Digital Print

16" x 20"

2014

Greg McCarthy

Tape Study 3 (After William Notman)

Digital Print

16" x 20"

2014

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Tape Study 5 (After William Notman)

Tape on Laser Print

16" x 20"
2015
Greg McCarthy

Tape Study 5 (After William Notman)

Tape on Laser Print

16" x 20"

2015

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Tape Study 6 (After William Notman)

Tape on Laser Print

5" x 7"

2015
Greg McCarthy

Tape Study 6 (After William Notman)

Tape on Laser Print

5" x 7"

2015

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Repeater (After William Notman)

Collage
4" x 11"

2015

Greg McCarthy

Repeater (After William Notman)

Collage

4" x 11"

2015

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Using Format