An artist's work can say a lot about who they are, and where they came from.

Marcel Petit is looking to explore that connection in a new exhibition opening at a gallery in Saskatoon, where he has chosen 30 photos to tell a photo history of his past 10 years.

He said the hardest part of choosing was whittling it down.

"When I first started and started looking at the pictures, first of all I was terrified because I don't know what I'm going to pick," he said.

"It was easier doing the first four or five years because I had specific pictures in mind."

Artist Marcel Petit's looks back on the past ten years in pictures in his newest exhibit, which opens March 7, 2016. (Marcel Petit)

As he kept narrowing down the selection, Petit noticed a few places he'd been that really stuck out to him — Black Lake and Cumberland House in Saskatchewan, and a more recent trip to Cambodia.

"I think it was those three places that really impacted me the most. It really opened my heart and my soul to what's out there," he said.

Petit said it eye-opening to look back on his visual history.

"I realize how entitled and privileged I am now in my life, and where I am compared to where I was 25 to 30 years ago, when I was going through my addictions and my health and all my other stuff," he said.

Petit said the experience taught him the importance of forgiveness and not letting things that bother you overpower you.

"It's about not getting over it, but letting go, or packaging stuff in a different way," he said.

Petit's exhibition opens Monday at the SCYAP Art Gallery on 253 3 Ave. South in Saskatoon.