Rencontres de la photographie en Gaspésie is happy to announce the release in Québec of Elena Perlino’s book Indian Time: en territoire innu. Co-published by Éditions Loco (France) and Éditions Escuminac (Rencontres’ publishing house), the book, launched in France in early November, is now on sale at Librairie Liber (New Richmond, the Gaspé) and on the website leslibraires.ca.

Elena Perlino completed Indian Time in the course of three visits to the border between Québec and Labrador. Her series of photographs unfolds in the Innu and Naskapi communities of Natashquan, Mani-utenam, Matimekush–Lac John, Kawawachikamach and Sheshatshiu. She traveled through these singular spaces and times – which are marked by ritual, the handing down of traditions and day-to-day life – taking us into nordicity and close to those who inhabit it.

“Indian Time is a very common expression in Innu communities. They say: ‘Slow down, you don’t need to hurry, relax…’ ‘White people eat according to their watches, Indians eat when they’re hungry,’ a woman elder from La Romaine pointed out in the 1950s. Learning to wait for the right moment is essential… ”

– Lucien McKenzie,

head of communications for the Matimekush (Schefferville) Innu community band council

Every image in Indian Time encourages us to reconsider the establishment and to follow the artist’s insightful gaze, beyond a documentary vision. Through the photographer’s eye, readers are invited to make their way through breathtaking landscapes and share the daily life of the inhabitants of these lands, marked as they are by an extremely sensitive contemporary Québec story.

For her Indian Time project, Elena Perlino did a number of creation residencies, supported by Rencontres de la photographie en Gaspésie and the Italian Cultural Institute of Montreal. She presented her series Indian Time in the town of Gaspé during the 9th Rencontres.

To learn more about the publishing houses that released Indian Time, see the Éditions Loco website and the Éditions Escuminac page on the Rencontres website.

About the artist

Elena Perlino is an Italian photographer living in Paris. Her recent work has dealt with migration, human trafficking and questions of genre, placing the photograph at the heart of crucial social and political issues. She has published several photo works, including Paris Goutte d’or with Éditions Loco.