RESIDENCY OF JEAN-FRANÇOIS HAMELIN: landscape testimonies wanted!

RESIDENCY OF JEAN-FRANÇOIS HAMELIN: landscape testimonies wanted!

Jean-François Hamelin is currently doing a creative residency in the Gaspé that involves the first photo assignment on the contemporary Québec landscape. Fluctuating between photographic subjectivity and the documentary, his work is anchored in the geography of places. Journeys, in both the figurative and literal sense, are an integral part of his creative process.

Selected last March by Rencontres for his project “Hutton ou la fin des terres”* (Hutton, or the End of the Earth), he will be spending three weeks in the Gaspé to deliberate on the connections between geology and territory. “In considering the notion of landscape from the angle of natural history,” he explains, “the images produced in the context of this project will reflect the various ways (economic, recreational, scientific, etc.) of exploiting the landscape, of living in it and evolving in it. Photography will make it possible to accumulate and gather together the evidence of our current relationship with the territory and the landscape by demonstrating the effect these have on our society.”

The artist also holds that in this photographic mosaic, the dialogue among the images will be kindled by their eclecticism. The photographs, portraits (scientists, tourists, residents, workers, etc.), landscapes (mountains, rivers, cliffs, mines, caves, etc.) and details (minerals, rock formations, fossils, etc.), will play the role of temporal markers, indicating how, in our time, we deal with the Québec landscape and its geological occurrences.”

After working in the Nouvelle-Miguasha area, he will head to Percé, Gaspé, Forillon National Park and Murdochville. His travels will wind up on the Gaspesian north shore.

Testimonies sought

Jean-François Hamelin is looking for people working with (and in) the landscape: geographers, map makers, stone collectors, prospectors, gold panners, miners, and so on.

Should you wish to deliver your testimony to him and possibly be part of his photo project, write us at info@photogaspesie.ca and we will put you in touch with him.

The results of this photo assignment will be presented at the 8th edition of Rencontres, in 2017.

*James Hutton is one of the founding fathers of modern geology, while “End of the Earth” refers to the Micmac term “Gespeg” or Gaspé.

Also worth reading about the assignments:

Contemporary Gaspesian landscape photographic assignments coming soon to the Gaspé