Chris Donovan 2021 Sunday Times Award for Achievement
A boy looks out the window in Crescent Valley, the largest housing project in eastern Canada. Despite Saint John being home to a billionaire family that employs the majority of the city’s working population, this North End neighbourhood has a child poverty rate of 50 percent. © Chris Donovan
The Irving Oil Refinery, the largest refinery in Canada as seen from the lawn of the city's Irving-owned local newspaper. The refinery has the capacity to process over 320,000 barrels of crude oil per day, most of which is shipped by rail from the oil sands of Western Canada. In 2013, one of the trains headed to the Irving Refinery derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, killing 47 people. © Chris Donovan
A skateboarder vapes as he takes a break at the Saint John skatepark. © Chris Donovan
Lisa Jacqart holds her grandson Trey in the front yard of her home near Canada's largest refinery. Her neighbourhood was evacuated in 2018 after a butane leak from the refinery and many of the houses were purchased by the Irving family and bulldozed. There was no offer made on Lisa's house, and after a large explosion a year after the leak, she now lives in fear of a disaster but cannot afford to move. © Chris Donovan
Lisa walks her dog along the butane pipelines of the refinery down the street from her house. When the pipeline leaked in 2018, it reportedly released more than 34,000 litres of butane, a colourless and highly flammable explosive vapour that can cause nausea, asphyxia and heart disruption if inhaled, for a period of 17 hours. Irving Oil purchased some of the homes in the neighbourhood for slightly above market value, which some residents said was not enough to buy a new house because houses next to the refinery have extremely low real-estate value. © Chris Donovan
A kid plays with a toy gun in the South End of Saint John. © Chris Donovan
A motorist and the Irving Oil Refinery are seen in a rearview mirror. The refinery has the capacity to process over 320,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and is the largest in Canada. © Chris Donovan
Trey jumps on the trampoline outside of his family home in the Bayside neighbourhood of Saint John. About a year after the neighbourhood was evacuated because of a butane leak, there was a large explosion at the refinery on Thanksgiving Day. The explosion reportedly injured 80 workers and sent flames more than 100 feet into the air. Trey’s family home was physically rattled by the explosion, which caused frames to fall off the walls. The next day, the Irving owned newspaper infamously published a large front-page headline that read “THANKSGIVING MIRACLE,” referring to the zero deaths from the incident. Trey’s grandmother said the newspaper added salt to the wound of an incident that has left a stain on Thanksgiving every year since. © Chris Donovan
Damian London takes his gun into the backyard for target practice in the Old North End of Saint John. The Old North is one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada and is infamous for its vacant crumbling housing. The once-prosperous ship-building neighbourhood is adjacent to a pulp mill that produces a pungent smell in the neighbourhood. Damian’s family has since moved twice for fear of violence in their neighbourhood. © Chris Donovan
Kids play on their parents’ bed in Crescent Valley, the largest housing project in eastern Canada. Despite Saint John being home to a billionaire family that employs the majority of the city’s working population, this North End neighbourhood has a child poverty rate of 50 percent. © Chris Donovan
The Bayside neighbourhood (before) the houses were demolished following a butane leak from the refinery. © Chris Donovan
The Bayside neighbourhood (after) the houses were demolished following a butane leak from the refinery. © Chris Donovan
The Cloud Factory
As a child, I looked up at the smokestacks in my hometown and asked my dad if they made all of the world’s clouds. “No,” he replied. “They make money.” It’s a common experience in Saint John, New Brunswick, a company town that’s home to Canada’s largest oil refinery. The Cloud Factory project reflects on environmental classism in a city that is home to the billionaire Irving family. It is also home to one of the country’s poorest neighbourhoods, with a child poverty rate of 50%. Through photographic narratives, investigations into environmental injustice, and reflecting on my own upbringing, I examine how identity is formed in a community that relies on a harmful industry for survival.
About the Photographer
Chris Donovan (b.1995) is a documentary photographer currently based between Toronto and New Brunswick, Canada. Hailing from the industrial city of Saint John, New Brunswick, his practice focuses on the intersection of community and industry. His work has been recognised by the World Press Photo Awards, Pictures of the Year International, The Alexia Foundation, Sony World Photography Awards, The National Newspaper Awards, and the News Photographers Association of Canada – including being named Canadian Photojournalist of the Year for 2017 and 2018.