John Max (1936–2011) was one of Canada’s iconic figures in the 1960s and 70s. Born in Montréal to a family of Ukrainian immigrants, he studied music and painting before becoming fascinated with photography. In the 1960s, he worked on commission for numerous magazines as well as for the Still Photography Division of the National Film Board of Canada. In 1967, he represented Canada at the fifth Biennale de Paris, and was among the participants in the exhibition Quatre photographes montréalais organized and held by Galerie Nationale du Canada in 1968.
John Max’s photography reached its zenith in 1972 with the exhibition Open Passport, organized by the Still Photography Division of the National Film Board of Canada and presented at the Galerie de l’Image in Ottawa (which later became the Musée contemporain de la photographie). The exhibition, which showcased 160 photographs, was designed specifically for the venue. And it is this very exhibition that has now been reprised by the La Castiglione Gallery in Montréal.
Open Passport hints at a journey from childhood to old age. Max uses photography as an introspective tool in order to keep a lifelong journal. “He photographs the interior: everyone is a reflection of their being, whether consciously or unconsciously. That is what interests him: the liberation of man, his passport to infinity.” A being without origin, without a country, without borders.
The exhibition brings together vintage photographic prints from 1972. We recognize the photographer’s wife, his son David, his mother posing with a birthday cake, and people from the artistic community: Sam Tata and others from the Montagnais community. The portraits emanate an intense sense of interiority, reinforced by the black and white prints and the deep shades of black. Max’s voyage through personal emotions and rituals has crossed over into the universal.
John Max, Open Passport
September 6 to October 7, 2017
La Castiglione – Galerie d’art photo
372, rue Sainte-Catherine O., # 416
Montréal, QC H3B 1A2
Canada
