Crossing Paths with Sailor Dan: A photo exhibit of Saskatoon's local legend

While Sailor Dan is arguably the most recognizable man in Saskatoon, Matthew Kruchak's photo exhibition, Crossing Paths with Sailor Dan, at Void Gallery will force viewers to see the city's well-known nautical artist in new ways.

"I'd heard of him when I first moved here I heard of a man who was selling his artwork on the streets," Kruchak told CBC radio's Saskatoon Morning.

He said hewas at a downtown coffee shop when he spotted the man wearing striped pants and a sailor hat for the first time.

"I immediately knew it was Sailor Dan, so I took a photo just for fun and then afterthat, when I bumped into him again, I asked if I could take a photo," explained Kruchak.

The idea of visually documenting their meetingssnowballed from there.

"Every time we would literally cross paths, I would talk to him for a couple of minutes and then take his photo," he said.

Kruchak's collection of images depictedthe complex, one-of-a-kind man behind the famous ship drawings.

Nearly three years of photographs

Kruchak spent nearly three years photographing the local artist around the city.

But after a while, when he started looking back at all the photographs he had taken, he got to thinking.

"I was like, every single ship in those pictures is sold;it's on somebody's wall," he said.

That's when Kruchakdecided to put a call out on social media for people to take aphoto of their Sailor Dan original and share their stories of crossing paths with the Saskatoon legend.

He received more than 70 submissions spanning from Saskatoon to British Columbia to London.

"My favourite one was from a guy, he said when he was a teenager, his mom gave him $20 to go get a haircut.He bumped into Sailor Dan on his way to get his haircut, bought a picture form Sailor Dan and went home and his mom wasn't very pleased."

A selection of the submittedphotos will be part of the show as well as an original from Sailor Dan himself.

The photo exhibit will begin on May 6 at 7 p.m. CSTand will run until May 29 at Void Gallery in Saskatoon.

A portion of the proceeds made will go to Sailor Dan.