Unskilled and Illegal
Have you broken the law? If so, did you feel shame—or necessity?
Economists like to divide employment into skilled and unskilled labour. Danny Luong’s exhibition highlights another division: one between legal and illegal work. What does it mean to be an illegal unskilled labourer? To the capitalist, it sounds like you’re illiterate, clumsy, and inexperienced. It means you deserve the constant presence of anxiety and less than a living wage. Your existence is called into question. You barely deserve to live.
Made in unregistered cannabis and psilocybin farms, Luong’s work reflects a personal journey fostered by close friendships and art. Luong, a worker and witness, had the explicit permission to document the operation during his shifts. These photographs of anonymous workers and makeshift operations, reveal an ingenuity and imagination in using limited resources toward a life worth living.
The vapour barrier in the gallery was installed by members of this community, bringing a private production space into one of leisure. A voyeuristic shock to some, the project is less an underworld to them than as everyday as a construction site.
What if skill isn’t about certification, but survival? What if ingenuity thrives where legitimacy is denied? Trying to normalize something illegal feels impossible, but Luong’s labour as an artist effectively contextualizes a very human and very skilled need to make ends meet.
text by Louie Villanueva
Danny Luong is a photographer based in Moh’kinsstsis on traditional Treaty 7 land (Calgary, Alberta.) Luong holds a BA in journalism from Mount Royal University and works to represent landed East-Asian migrants and refugees through personal documentary.
Luong is interested in ancestral lineages and the effects of history on generations of migrants. With an emphasis on duality, Luong’s graphic style recalls both snapshots and gritty photojournalism from a mix of medium format, 35mm, and digital stills. Luong’s subjects emphasize the tribulations of generations, shared cultural values and the effects of displacement on first and second generation Canadian lives.
Luong won an emerging photographer award at the Exposure Photo Festival in 2023 which was exhibited at Contemporary Calgary for his work ‘we were growers’. Luong has shown work with Art Toronto, Alberta Society of Artists, Arts Commons, Asian Heritage Foundation Calgary and was selected to be part of the Exposure Studio Collective. In 2024, Luong was a recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts Project to Realization grant for work on a solo show at The Bows artist run centre in Calgary for 2025.
exhibit documentation by Stefan Legisa