My name is Conner Leggin and I’m kind of here, there, and everywhere. I’ve lived in Prince Edward Island (PEI) Nova Scotia, Winnipeg, the Yukon, Ontario – so I’m a mutt.

I’ve lived by a few water bodies. I guess one of the most recent water bodies that had an impact on me was in PEI and that was the West River. The West River is a branch of three rivers that make up a Canadian heritage river on PEI.

We shot a documentary about the negative issues facing PEI rivers as well as the challenges and opportunities and natural history and natural heritage especially related to farming. So when we were shooting our documentary on the West River, three of us went in the canoe. We went with a guy, a scientist from the university who showed up some of his projects. It was just a fantastic day to be taking it really slow through a river and capturing it through a lens and capturing it in a very deliberate way, looking at the river and really appreciating its curves and bends and meanders.

So that was really special, and being able to share it with people and joke and laugh while you are canoeing. I think for me that one was kind of the whole trip was the moment that really stuck with me. I have another moment though if I can sneak in a second one.

When I was a kid, I grew up in a really small town in Nova Scotia called Antigonish, I don’t even know the name of the body of water because I was like 5 or 6 years old. But my dad would always take me to a place called the Landing and it was just a path along a river.

My dad was a marine biologist initially so we would take a net and stuff and anywhere there was a little inlet on the bank where we could dip our net in and lift through the reeds. He would take out the net and show me all the little critters and creatures he could find. So that was a really special moment that I feel kind of defined a lot of the rest of my interest in water. Even in the tiniest little place in a river you can find this beautiful profusion of life and critters and cool things.