I choose the dumps
Why i photograph dumps more than i do beauty
Street photography
The art of dialogue
Going out on street photography sessions is in my opinion as much a journalism act than it is a leisure. Just the same, the art of showing the city in its true light is just as valuable if not more than doing magic and making the city look prettier than it really is.
The truth is worse than the dumps i choose
I will make the subject beautiful if you pay me to do just that or if i am in the mood for making it beautiful that day. I can even make ugly things beautiful, or ugly things even uglier… trust me. Otherwise i will document the truth. In Montreal, the truth is worse than the dumps i choose because i do not pick the worst ones let alone portrait junkies. In that line of work my respects go out to American Street Photographer Chris Arnade.
Graffitis speak at great lengths
I find Graffiti is very narrative as to what the state of the community is. No doubt Graffiti is a significant urban art and one of my favorite subjects.
Improvised sessions
This time of year signals the debut of street photography season for me. I love heading out on improvised street photography sessions. I do little of this in the winter because of this country’s insane climate. But now that spring has come, my camera will see a lot of action. The City better be ready to be published all over the internet, all over the world — i am only one among many other street photographers.
No plan and no direction
For me, street photography needs to have no plan and no direction; it needs to be thoughtless in its objectives. The best results come with intuition and target-less walks. My unconscious mind guides me to my subjects and more or less directs my artistic gesture. I wander and find things i never thought existed, even when i pass by that same alley or street for the hundredth time. That is a fact and it demonstrates that the city changes and so does my interpretation of it.
Interpretation & perspective
There is a definite part of a photographer’s personality in a series of photos. My interpretation mixed with light and the state of the city will create the message, and a channel into my mind. Likewise, it will create a window into the city. Also, perspective on the same subject, on the same alley, same building or same street corner can change de subject’s light tremendously.
artistic mood
Of course these sessions are performed in pur artistic mood. And that is what i love most. When i go out as such, i seek a symbiosis with my surroundings. I put ear buds on, play my favorite music, and look to create a dialogue with my camera, with my town and with myself. It can be fruitful or not so fruitful, but it usually is. I will mostly take urban scenes or bits of human interventions on the city such as littered areas, street art, tags, architecture and ‘graffs’, or… cats. I love cats.
Political messages
Despite the informal nature of these sessions and their results, there will always be a political message in my art. Being an involved and opinionated person is a part of me. I will show the state of my city when i feel it has to be shown and i will speak up about it just as often because it is my right to question my leaders on the decisions they take for my living and working space and it is everyone’s right to have this information and this opinion available for free on the web.
The state of the nation
The state of my city is analog to the state of my society and that of my nation. This state has to be compared to other cities of the same society. I am often criticized for criticizing my city and my society. But for as long as we will be hyper-taxed as we are currently with a fake medication and employment insurance program, i will criticize. More over, criticizing society and politics is a basic function of an artist, any artist that isn’t an interior designer…
The occasional passing human
I will occasionally capture a passing human in my frames. People are very rarely the subject of my photos, however. Unlike most street photographers who thrive capturing people up close, i stay away from humans as much as i can. I am often questioned about this. After all, the state of the citizen is what counts most and it is the first reason why we create cities. I do not underestimate this; i do feel though that information on the state of the citizen is everywhere, in concrete and brick, in architecture and urban decay. Hence i can avoid something i hate doing all the while being just as relevant in street photography.
The gesture of street photography
I feel most people do not understand the gesture of street photography and it can cause more problems than not to photographe faces of strangers on the street, unless there is an artistic and/or human connection established with the subject, something i have no patience for. I hold in high esteem photographers who are able to do this. For me it is just too counter productive in regards to my personality — see Brandon Stanton with Humans of New York
Street Scenes
I will only picture people within a bigger scene, at a distance. I am mostly fascinated by architecture and human intervention on the city. The state of the city speaks lengths about its people. I like lively urban scenes more than i like human faces. And, i don’t underestimate still dumps, they often tell a very real story like humans would posing. Of all my publications, the only one that comes close to tapping straight into people’s lives is ‘Autant de Montréalais’
The decaying social fabric
The state of Montreal is a reflection of the economic state of our society. It is also a reflection of Quebec City politics as well as a reflection of City Hall politics. But even more so, it is a reflection of the people living in the city and their will to make this living space a better place for themselves and their family. No matter how you spin it, politicians and wealthy corporations will spread the money necessary to improve the city and its environment only where citizens demand it firmly. So… it’s up to Us to change things when we feel they are not right. Democracy is a selective concept; engagement in local affairs is a courageous act.
We are Who We are; We Look How We are
People work hard and pay a lot of taxes here. We are certainly concerned with our city’s environment and urban design, but are we knowledgeable about what is decided in our name and with our money ? are we knowledgeable about what is good design ? let alone have the energy and time to fight bad design. Luckily for most of us, some involved citizens surveil this evolution constantly, still some aberrations can slip through citizen vigilance because of lack of ressources, lack of rules, laws, or, corruption…— http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/we-have-been-vigilant-culture-minister-defends-handling-of-damaged-mount-stephen-club
A Place to Live and Thrive
I believe people seek places to live and thrive. If they can’t find it in the city, they will find it elsewhere, in the suburbs, or in the country, even outside the country. With even more technological possibilities to work from home in many different industries now, moving out of the city is easier than ever. Under these conditions, others will build the city, or manage its decay. Perhaps its best this way… or is it ?
The living city
The city breaths, coughs, screams and cries, literally, like a person. There are days when despite all its problems it shines and delivers a terrific experience. And then, on other days it will just spit you out or drive you away in an agressive climate. Stressed out people and distressed people will poison the air of the city and the city will in turn propagate the insanity. One is the other.
I can find beauty where there seems to be none
I can find beauty everywhere. The city has everything. Some places will never change though, so it seems… Some street corners seem doomed to be a painful eyesore and others will shine no matter how grey the sky is. Montrealers know these usual eyesores, these usual problems, we live with them, resigned. For some these are ineluctable realities that can’t be changed. For others, they are opportunities to recreate the city for the futur, like this Mile-End citizens collective — Les Amis du Champs des Possibles
From one corner to another
From one corner to another things can be worlds apart in this city. Fifty metres can take you from the ideal town street corner to a nightmarish dump. What happened to the suffering street corners ? and why does it need to be like this ? Even Detroit has started reconstruction by innovation — A Missionary’s Quest to Remake Motor City
Homelessness & abandonment
Like the growing population of homeless people in this city; Montreal grows more abandoned every year it seems. Empty lots, empty shops, exodus, road work and tax season join forces to empty everybody’s wallet and the city’s commercial streets to make what was once the greatest city in Canada just another city, un-remarkable among others, or remarkable for all the wrong reasons… there is a new saying on the street : Montreal is the new Detroit…
