halfsquatch is an online serial novel and photography exhibition that runs daily through summer 2008. the story follows seventeen-year-old rebecca richman, an outcast in her yukon town, who spends her days making over thrift store dolls and dreaming of art school. but when rebecca’s family secret is exposed, her life is turned upside-down in this story of exploitation, identity — and hair removal. the revelations shock the small community and have ramifications for everyone in rebecca’s life – particularly for her father, bob, and for her best friend, and fellow goth teen, dave thompson. as word of rebecca’s hidden history spreads, she’s branded a freak and retreats, while those around her scramble to capitalize on the situation, motivated by greed and fame. suddenly at the centre of an international media storm, rebecca is a reluctant celebrity. opportunists abound and she soon finds her relationships in turmoil and unsure whom she can trust. conniving reporters and reality television producers meet goth teens and sasquatch hunters in the canadian north, a backdrop littered with mummified cats, first-time sex and giant cinnamon buns. from the tourist-filled streets of summertime in whitehorse to vancouver’s bohemian art scene, halfsquatch is an unforgettable romp through rebecca’s changing world, with results are at once comic and touching. drawing on legend, myth and history, halfsquatch is a fantastical tale that marries contemporary social drama with sly pop culture commentary, and invites readers along for the ride as rebecca overcomes the humiliating trials of youth, ultimately finding acceptance and hope in the most unlikely places. art plays a key role in the halfsquatch story and informs its accompanying photography. for each of the 104 installments, a collage was created using images dating from the 1940s to present day; they came from magazines, books, brochures and maps. thousands were cut and hundreds were used. the work is thematic, surreal, rarely literal, and hopefully compelling. readers will notice recurring images of dolls, hair removal paraphernalia, butterflies, cocktails and dreamy, otherworldly scenes involving polar bears and woolly mammoths. the final pictures have been altered four times since their original state. pictures were carefully cut and glued to 10"x10" canvas board that had been individually prepped with a geometric background of colourful origami paper. the finished collages were then photographed with a holga cfn toy camera in natural light using expired agfa rsx-II medium format slide film, which gives the shots their distinctive grain. the film was cross-processed as colour negative film to further heighten the colour contrast and saturation. finally, the photos were scanned, cropped and ready to go. (aside from unavoidable cropping and removal of dust and in more unfortunate situations, glue residue, the photographs are not digitally altered.) check the halfsquatch website daily from may 21 to september 1, 2008, for new art and story installments.

buy prints of the halfsquatch photographs on etsy and dawanda starting may 21.