Courtney Milne ~ Photographer
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Courtney Milne has been a professional photographer since 1975. Among the many photographic honours bestowed upon him is the Gold Medal for Distinction in Canadian Photography, awarded by the National Association for Photographic Art in 1993.
A small portion of his work has been published in the books he has both authored and for which he has provided the images. His publications include three popular books of images of the Canadian Prairies: Prairie Light (1985), Prairie Dreams (1989) and Prairie Skies (1993).
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Courtney is presently working on a series called "The Sacred Earth Collection".
- The first volume is called The Sacred Earth (1991) and is a collection of sacred and holy places around the world.
- The second volume is titled Spirit of the Land: Sacred Places in North America (1994). A US edition of this work was published under the title Sacred Places in North America: A Journey Into the Medicine Wheel.
NOTE: A few of the images from each of the published volumes of the Sacred Earth Collection can be viewed by following the links below. The pages, being graphic intensive are somewhat slow to load -- but are well worth the wait. If you would like to visit Mr. Milne's web site directly click here.
The Sacred Earth
In his forward to the bookThe Sacred Earth His Holiness the Dalai Lama says: "This beautiful earth, like a mother, sustains us in many different ways, which is why our ancestors held her in almost religious respect. ... This book, The Sacred Earth contains photographs of sacred places in many different parts of the world.
Some, like the River Ganges are natural phenomena, some contain impressive buildings, and others are only ruins now. Taken together they represent the common need in the human quest for happiness, to preserve certain places as sanctuaries, reflecting perhaps each individual's wish for inner peace. Enjoying these pictures, whether readers are reminded of their own visits to some of these sites or are inspired to seek them out, they will be able to appreciate an age-old yearning shared by all mankind."
Spirit of the Land
As Mr. Milne says in his introduction "The photographs in Spirit of the Land include specific sites that the First Nations identify as holy, as well as other land forms that capture the mystical essence of the earth." Using the Medicine Wheel at Big Horn as his central motif, Courtney superimposed the wheel on a map of North America and followed each of the 28 spokes to explore landscapes pregnant with myth, legend, and mystery.