Doug’s Cabin is a photobook by Karianne Bueno, published by The Eriskay Connection in 2019. It follows Doug, a man who has been living in the forests of Vancouver Island, Canada for 47 years. Bueno met him on his campsite in 2010 and was fascinated by his life on such a remote edge of the world. She had always dreamed of a life away from society, and decided to visit Doug again with her camera two years later.
Doug built his home on the foundations of a pioneer’s house, with the help of the last solitary forest dwellers. He found work as a carpenter on a military base near the lumberjack village of Holberg, where the soldiers and their families formed a close community and Doug had his best years. When the base closed after the Cold War and the buildings and remains were to be burned, Doug decided to save what could be saved and moved deeper into the woods. Campers rarely come, and the forest slowly takes back the open space. Doug gets old; he is losing the battle against the elements.
Over the years, Bueno’s tangible photography project about living away from society turned into a labyrinth of stories and legends, across multiple layers of time and reality, like the jungle itself. With tranquil, yet stifling photographs, diary fragments and found footage, she takes us deeper into the forest, away from our hectic society, to wonder: do we actually have control over our lives? Are all our choices made as consciously as we like to believe?
Photography is by Karianne Bueno, with editing by Ellen Sanders, Karianne Bueno and PutGootink. The text is by Bueno, with text editing and translation by Rosie Heinrich; drawings are by Medy Oberendorff, design by PutGootink, lithography by Marc Gijzen, and production by Printing Matters. The book was printed by Zwaan Printmedia (NL) and bound by Stronkhorst (NL), and supported by the Mondriaan Fund and the Josine de Bruyn Kops Fonds. This first edition of 700 copies is a classic softcover with several perforated signatures, measuring 190 × 300 mm and running 192 pages.
