The Franco-Quebecois portrait photographer Tshi was found dead in La Rochelle, France. Based in Montreal since 1990, his work appeared in many magazines and newspapers over the last two decades, during which he also produced several album covers. His unique style, which anticipated the work of photographers like Lee Jeffries, was instantly recognizable.
Self-taught, Tshi quickly established a reputation as a portrait photographer whose particular aesthetic blended tight framing and high contrasts. His cameras of choice were an old single-lens reflex camera and a battered 6×6 Hasselblad. He spent part of his childhood in Fedala-la-Blanche in Morocco. After studying philosophy and traveling, Tshi touched down in Quebec, joining the Parisian agency VU in 2001 while continuing to work in his Montreal studio. His work has been exhibited regularly in France, Quebec and Morocco. Two years ago, he left Montreal to be with his dying mother, and never returned to his darkroom.
According to his family, the death of his mother deeply affected Tshi, and he lapsed into a depression that made him all but abandon photography. It was in his mother’s house that his body was found on Sunday, April 7. He had died a few days earlier. An autopsy is forthcoming. Tshi was 48 years old.
Jean-François Nadeau
Read the full article on the French version of Le Journal
