Biography

Bret Culp (b. 1970, Dunnville, Ontario) is a Canadian fine art photographer based in Toronto and Georgian Bay. His work explores impermanence, memory, and transformation through two primary forms—atmospheric black and white images captured in fleeting moments, and vivid solargraphs created with months-long exposures using handmade pinhole cameras. He photographs widely, focusing on locations shaped by natural and human histories.

Guided by a reverence for light and the passage of time, Culp’s photographs reflect places where presence slowly fades, boundaries dissolve, and renewal quietly takes hold. His solargraphs are shaped directly by the sun’s movement, revealing what is otherwise unseen.

His work was featured on the cover of PhotoEd Magazine in Fall 2024, accompanied by a photo spread and article. He collaborated with The Weather Network on a national video segment about his solargraphy practice in 2024, highlighting his long-exposure technique to a broad audience. His photographs have appeared in LensWork (USA) in 2012 and 2021, Black & White Magazine (USA) in 2018, Images Ages (China) in 2015, and other respected publications. His exhibitions include Tradition Transformed at the Orillia Museum of Art & History in 2024 (Ontario, Canada), the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound (Canada), the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins (USA), Masters of Photography in Curitiba (Brazil), and the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival in Toronto in 2014, 2015, and 2016. He has also exhibited at numerous regional and juried exhibitions throughout Ontario.

Culp has received a range of photography awards, including First Place/Show Winner at Impact 2023 at Neilson Park Creative Centre in Toronto, Best Photography at the Newmarket Juried Art Show in 2022 and 2023, Winner of the Black & White Magazine Single Image Contest in 2018, Best Nature/Landscape at RGM Exposed at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Canada) in 2018, and a Merit of Excellence (Second Place) in the International Black & White Spider Awards in 2005.

As an award-winning Visual Effects Supervisor and Second Unit Director for film and television, Culp brings a cinematic understanding of atmosphere, scale, and narrative to his photographic practice. His work bridges personal reflection with enduring questions of memory, place, and impermanence. His limited-edition photographic prints have been acquired by collectors around the world.