Day Three

A photo documentary examining the lives of seasonal tree planters working in remote Canadian bush camps. "Day Three" explores labour, escapism, and the community formed within physically and mentally demanding conditions.

Every May, thousands of young people leave cities, classrooms, and digital routines to migrate to the remote forests of various Canadian provinces. Most are university students; others are seasonal workers or wanderers looking for something they can’t quite name. For two to three months, they live in temporary camps deep in the bush, reachable only by logging roads.

The work is repetitive and grueling. Each day begins early and quickly: eat, load into trucks or helicopters, and arrive at large stretches of newly exposed earth. With 40–50 pounds of saplings on their hips, planters work alone for 8–9 hours, crossing slash and fallen trees, planting anywhere from one to four thousand seedlings a day—a number that depends on terrain, weather, and their grit.

The labour is punishing yet meditative. Planters burn an average of 8,000 calories a day, returning to camp bruised, sunburnt, and exhausted—but together. Evenings unfold around long tables where stories, complaints, and laughter are shared over hot food. After three days, a day off arrives. At the end of the shift’s final day, the camp listens to music, plays games, and shares drinks. That evening, it feels as though no world exists outside the camp. The following morning feels like a small holiday: river swims, town trips, chores, and rest, until the cycle begins again.

This cycle continues until the contract is complete and the trees run out. When contracts end, many return home tired and relieved. The relief is short-lived; soon, they begin to miss the simplicity, connection, and shared hardship of life in the bush. Many start counting down the days until they return. Others will cherish the experience forever.

I belong to the generation entering adulthood at a time that feels unprecedentedly heavy. We have inherited a world that seems to be collapsing under its own weight: accelerating climate change, eroded political systems, unlivable wages, precarious work, unaffordable food, and virtually inaccessible housing. Add to this the overwhelming pressure of digital life, and it feels impossible to manage surviving, let alone living. We are expected to bear the responsibility of fixing a world we did not break, or simply to “get over it.” The effect is suffocating and incredibly overwhelming.

Tree planting provides young people with a unique opportunity—a chance to reject this status quo. To escape—even if only briefly—to a simpler way of living. A community where work and social relationships thrive.

While working and living in camp, I kept my camera either in hand or tucked into the back of my planting bags each day, photographing as someone who works the same cut blocks, eats at the same tables, and sleeps in the same muddy camp as everyone else. My goal with this project is to validate the experience of both my generation and my fellow planters. In addition, I hope to help outsiders see and understand a world they may never know.

Tree planting is temporary by design. Camps dissolve. People scatter. Yet the experience and memories of those months linger long after. Through Day Three, I hope to preserve those lived experiences and explore why so many young people return to the bush year after year. These selected images represent a small part of a larger body of work and the first chapter of a longer-term project. I plan to return to this contract in May to both plant and continue documenting the lives, work, and experiences of this community.