• born in 1947 in Linz, Austria
• parents born in Ukraine
• immigrated to Montréal, Québec in 1953
• B.A. Sociology and Anthropology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba (1968); studied photographic arts at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, Ontario (1973)

John Paskievich is a freelance photographer and filmmaker who immigrated to Montréal from Austria in 1953. In 1959 his family relocated to Winnipeg. Paskievich studied sociology and anthropology as an undergraduate student at the University of Winnipeg. It was only after a trip to Europe following his graduation that he discovered he might prefer photography, playing the role of the photo-snapping tourist both at home and abroad. He enrolled as a photography student at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, and in 1978 received nationwide attention in Canada for his first solo show, A Place Not Our Own. This series of seventy-one black and white photographs is an exploration of the North End of Winnipeg, an area where large populations of European immigrants and First Nations of Canada mingle. Paskievich has described both groups as strangers, the Europeans strangers in a new land, the Native peoples strangers in their own land. In 1980 the artist travelled to Europe to amass a collection of images of the people of the Eastern Bloc, a personal pilgrimage that resulted in the show, A Voiceless Song: Photographs of the Slavic Lands (1988). In his films Paskievich has explored similar themes, looking at a legendary Ukrainian-Canadian who saw the changes of a period of over twenty years in north end Winnipeg in Ted Baryluk’s Grocery (1982). This film features Ted talking about his store, the many people he has seen come and go in the neighbourhood, and his hope that his daughter may take over the store after he has gone, even though she wants to move away. It is "a wistful rendering of a shopkeeper's relationship with his daughter and a fascinating portrait of a neighbourhood and its inhabitants" (Christiane Talbot, 1998), which received numerous awards including a Genie Award in Toronto, and which was chosen to represent Canada at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. Paskievich told the story of a farmer’s hardship in Price of Daily Bread (1986), and explored the relationship between humans and wilderness in the 1987 Heart Land. In 1988 his film The Old Believers examined aspects of life in an isolated northern Alberta community whose Orthodox Christian lifestyles are threatened. He has also sought to explore First Nations life in Canada, looking at three Inuit carvers in Sedna: The Making of a Myth (1992), and following the journey of three aboriginal elders from Manitoba to the Czech Republic in If Only I Were an Indian (1996).

A Place Not Our Own, North End Winnipeg
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Waiting for the Ice Cream Man/ A Prison Journal
Arthur Street Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

If Only I Were an Indian . . . . Produced by John Paskievich, Joe MacDonald, and Ches Yetman. Directed by John Paskievich. 80 min. 41 sec. Zemma Pictures and the National Film Board of Canada, 1996.

The Old Believers. Produced by Joe MacDonald, John Paskievich, and Ches Yetman. Directed by John Paskievich. 56 min., 51 sec. National Film Board of Canada, 1988.

Price of Daily Bread. Produced and directed by John Paskievich, and Michael Mirus. 16 min. Galicia Films, 1986.

Sedna: The Making of a Myth. Produced by John Paskievich, Joe MacDonald, Ches Yetman, and Sharon Van Raalte. Directed by John Paskievich. 60 min. Zemma Pictures and the National Film Board of Canada, 1992.

Ted Baryluk's Grocery/L'épicerie de Ted Baryluk. Produced by Wolf Koenig, and Michael Scott. Directed by John Paskievich, and Michael Mirus. 10 min. 19 sec. National Film Board of Canada, 1982.

Bradley, Jessica, and Cindy Richmond. Working Truths/ Powerful Fictions. Regina, Saskatchewan: Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1992.

Enright, Robert. Notations, Four Winnipeg Photographers: Bill Eakin, Ernie Kroeger, John Paskievich, Peter Tittenberger. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Gallery 1.1.1., University of Manitoba, 1983.

Friesen, Ralph. "Still moving pictures: The art of John Paskievich and Michael Mirus." Border Crossings 6, no. 1 (Winter 1996): 12-14.

Horich-Cmoc, Bohdanna. "Suggested lyrics: A response to John Paskievich's A Voiceless Song." Photo Communiqué 5, no. 2 (Summer 1983): 8-15.

Kostash, Myrna. "Domination and exclusion: Notes of a resident alien." Border Crossings 5, no. 4 (September 1986): 65-71.

Krotz, Larry. "Unsettlers." Border Crossings 15, no. 1 (February 1996): 60-61.

---. Urban Indians. Edmonton, Alberta: Hurtig Publishers, 1970.

Langford, Martha. Contemporary Photography from the Collection of the National Film Board. Edmonton, Alberta: Hurtig Publishers, 1984.

Madill, Shirley, Charles Scott, Carl Nelson, et al. 1987: Contemporary Art in Manitoba. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987.

McKibbon, Millie Richardson. Three Manitoba Photographers Exhibition: David Harbour, Scott MacEachern, John Paskievich. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1977.

McMillan, David. Five Manitoba Photographers: John Paskievich, Michaelin McDermott, Leonard Schlichting, David Barbour, Brian Appel. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1979.

Park, Kip. "John Paskievich: Winnipeg Art Gallery." Vanguard (April 1983): 33-34.

Paskievich, John. "John Walker in conversation with John Paskievich." Take One 6, no. 18 (Winter 1998): 10-14.

Skvorecky, Josef, Martha Langford. A Voiceless Song: Photographs of the Slavic Lands by John Paskievich. Toronto, Ontario: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1983.

Talbot, Christianne. "Filmography of John Paskievich." Ottawa, Ontario: National Film Board Database, 1998.