Through February 23rd, Le Cercle, an arts space in Quebec, will be holding the exhibition 185 HEURES by Renaud Philippe. A photojournalist and founder of the STIGMAT collective, Philippe’s series was shot on the roads crossing Canada from east to west. Aboard a bus and armed with a small Fuji camera— for which he is ambassador —he performed a “photographic meditation” while seeking to transcend the boundaries of the image. Philippe sees the work as more of an exercise. Rather than seeking contact with others, he tried to go outside his comfort zone and remained in isolation throughout the 185-hour trip. His photographs evoke his dreamlike journey, between sleep and waking, a search for the self and his approach to photography, a quest without any purpose but introspection. Unlike his other documentary projects, which were always subject to constraints, the photographer allowed himself this “parenthetical journey” of personal questioning.
In collaboration with the multidisciplinary artist Alexandre Berthier, a time-lapse montage complements the exhibition while a sound installation plays the vibrations of the bus recorded by the photographer himself. The viewers will be soothed by the constant and soporific sound of the motor, like a meditative chant, putting them in a reflective state. For this project, Philippe received a grant from the city of Quebec.
Philippe has produced several long-term projects on displacement and exile. For years he has documented the life of Bhutanese refugees in their camp in Quebec. He has contributed to many Canadian and European publications. His work is distributed in Europe by the Picture Tank cooperative agency.
EXHIBITION
185 HEURES de Renaud Philippe
Through
23 February 2015
Le Cercle-Lab Vivant
228 et 226 1/2, St-Joseph est
Québec, Qc
Canada
