Photographer’s art project 'Love Letters to Elora' is capturing hearts

ELORA – For her 60th birthday, Sophie Hogan invited some friends and gave them each a hand-written letter expressing how important they are to her.

She had spent a great deal of time thinking about these 13 people and dedicated one day per person to write their personal love letter. 

Then at her party she read them out loud to the group.

“It was the best birthday of my life; it was so powerful. That’s the power of letters,” Hogan said in an interview at her photography studio in downtown Elora. 

“After my birthday I kept writing (letters) and tucked them away. But I discovered that whenever I felt anxious or angry, writing a letter helped calm me down.”

Hogan was feeling anxious again this year, given the state of the world both near and far, and conceived the idea to write a love letter to Elora.

When the Gorge Cinema closed for renovations in 2025, but no one would explain when or if it would reopen, Hogan felt anxious again.

So, she wrote a love letter to the Gorge Cinema expressing her love for the theatre, her memories of not just the movies but the people who also frequented the Elora landmark. She took a photo of herself eating popcorn to go with it.

She then posted it on her Facebook page and invited others to send their love letters to Elora.

“They immediately responded,” she said, adding there are now 26 love letters and counting.

She’s also reached out to people to contribute, including Donna McCaw and Jan Beveridge of Save Our Water, historian Pat Mestern, Stephanie Lines-Toohill of the Nest, local shop keepers, her yoga instructor, newcomers, artists, musicians and a group of outspoken folks she calls the Mavericks.

She then photographed the contributors in settings that match their love letters.

She posts them on community Facebook pages, on her own page and there is now a website devoted to them, loveletterstoelora.wordpress.com.

“No one writes letters anymore,” she said. “It’s very intimate, like photography in that way. It’s the flip side of big news. And the response from the community has been fantastic.”

She added, “I think people are enjoying the sweet things about Elora, reminiscing, and remembering why they came here. It’s a way to be seen and lift up the community at the same time.”

She’s purposely left politicians out of the project – she doesn’t want to appear to be endorsing anyone, which is why she’ll wrap the project in the fall, right around election time.

“It’s been good therapy for me,” she said of the letters. “It subdues my anxiety and warms my heart. I hope other people feel the same way.”