A Photographer’s Prairie Odyssey
Growing up, Kyler Zeleny had one goal: to leave his hometown of Mundare, Alberta, a sleepy, 900-person farming community 45 minutes east of Edmonton. He spent most of his childhood on his parents’ farm, shooting bottles with pellet guns and playing in hay bales with his cousins. “It was peaceful, but people thought that to be a success, you had to leave,” he says. At 18, he became one of many millennials to abandon Mundare and nudge the town one step closer toward extinction. He departed for the University of Alberta in Edmonton, then moved to England for an M.A. and, finally, to Toronto Metropolitan University to earn a Ph.D. In 2014, he published his first book, Out West, about life in the Prairies, parachuting in and out of communities for hours at a time to take photos.
One day, while strolling around Mundare on a visit home, he photographed an out-of-service grain elevator that was being taken down. The scene, he thought, revealed a town on the verge of decay. He decided to document Mundare before it disappeared completely.
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Over the next nine years, Zeleny shot the town using several cameras. He also collected archival photos of Mundare from residents and local museums. He photographed men at bars, octogenarians at community halls and his family members standing in front of their gardens and farm fields.
The resulting book, titled Bury Me in the Back 40, is a sensitive account of Mundare’s past and present. On the surface, the photos reveal a community whose best days appear to be behind it: a place that, like many tiny towns in North America, struggles to retain its young people. But Mundare is growing; its population has increased by seven per cent in the last five years as newcomers from the East Coast and abroad moved in. “Mundare will have a fine future; it will just be different from its past and present,” says Zeleny. In the following pages, he shares the stories behind some of his favourite photos from the book.
“This is my sister’s rescue dog. She’s the sweetest but looks tough because of her teeth. I photographed her at night outside our farm, in front of my car’s brake lights. This image is a metaphor: many people in small towns, including Mundare, are extremely friendly but are initially guarded toward outsiders.”
“I shot this woman at the community centre. Decades ago, she might have danced there among hundreds of people. Now, the largest gathering she attends might be a 12-person floor curling class.”
“This Mundare woman used to work at my family’s sausage business. She owns seven exotic birds. One of her daughters got into a car accident, and the family got the birds to cope. The pets have been a source of happiness through hard times.”
“This country hall once hosted lively gatherings. These buildings provided a hub for rural residents, drawing crowds for weekend events like dances and live music. The field behind this one used to fill up with cars.”
“My grandfather, now 86, belonged to the last wave of Mundare’s mid-century farmers. He still grows grains, like wheat, canola and oats, alongside my father.”
“These garter snakes were everywhere in my childhood. The photo is a metaphor: in the Bible, snakes are a sign of trouble. Mundare has strong religious roots—the town was a major hub for Ukrainian-Catholic activity in Alberta in the 20th century.”
“This is my great-aunt Rose. She was a nurse in Edmonton but moved back to Mundare when she retired. Many people of her generation left for the city then came back home. I don’t see that anymore.”
“The Polish and Ukrainian folk in the community used to grow their own produce to save money. This woman is one of the last babas, or grandmothers, to care for a garden in town.”
“Grain elevators used to be the heart of any prairie town, but they dwindled as agrarian businesses shifted to concrete inland grain terminals. This elevator is the last one in Mundare. It used to be on the town flag, but nobody cares to save it now. The two men in the truck are just looking ahead with complete disregard to the structure being torn down behind them.”
