Nina Raginsky O.C. RCA.

Nina who lived a bold and beloved life was a true friend to many. She was widely acknowledged and honoured in her lifetime, first as a photographer and artist, and later as an environmental activist who cared deeply about the earth. She spoke out when she saw injustices and bad practices, she walked her talk.

Nina grew up in Montreal, the only child of Helen and Ben Raginsky of Russian and German ancestry. She graduated from Rutgers University where she was forever influenced by her studies with artists Roy Lichtenstein, George Segal and Alan Kaprow.

She was fundamentally creative and worked making jewelry, ceramics and sculpture, but by 1964 the camera became her primary tool of expression. Nina worked as a freelance photographer in Mexico, London, Old Crow Yukon, and later in Vancouver and Victoria.

Her works have been exhibited many times; her photographs are in books, international collections, museums and galleries. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984 and was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Her photography was recognized in 2015 with a Canada Post stamp of one of her full-figure frontal portraits in her distinctive sepia-toned and hand-coloured style. In 2022 she was delighted to be included in the anthology ‘A World History of Women Photographers’.

Throughout her career Nina used only one camera and only one lens, a Nikon 50mm. In 2020 she got her first flip phone. Another era of photography began as she enjoyed using its rudimentary digital camera to document and share her quiet and solitary daily life.

She settled in Victoria in the late 1970’s where she raised her daughter Sofya and taught photography and, as she liked to say, metaphysics, at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver.

In 1988 Nina and Sofya moved to Salt Spring Island where Nina turned her keen eye and attention to the natural world. She worked hard to protect Xwaaqwu’um from logging, to protect heron’s rookeries, eelgrass meadows, oyster catchers and the sensitive ecosystem of her beloved Walter Bay.

Nina was warm, generous and witty, she had a curious mind and was an avid reader. She loved conversation, and invitations for tea were cherished times. She had a prodigious memory and remembered important dates in friends’ lives. She touched many lives, had a strong presence and was a force for good.

Working and being in her beautiful garden was one of Nina’s greatest joys. She was able to garden right up to the end of her life. She also loved food and was a fantastic cook and bread baker. She was committed to eating local and produced a cookbook highlighting Salt Spring farmers and their recipes.

She created countless guides for living simply. Winter Solstice cards, ongoing correspondence, her distinctive printing style, sharing photographs, recipes, treasures from her garden and her latest find at the thrift store are all part of her life. Even her envelops, like everything she did, were works of art.

Sofya was instrumental in helping her live well and up to her standards in her later years.

She will be missed.