Bertrand Carriere | Lieux Memes

Exhibition Dates: October 31 - November 21, 2009

The gallery is pleased to announce its fifth exhibition of work by Bertrand Carrière. In “Lieux Mêmes”, Carrière retraces the footsteps of an unknown World War I photographer introduced to him through a photo album he discovered by chance.

In 2005, Carrière and historian Guth Desprez started to investigate the deeper history surrounding the found photo album. They travelled to Europe, with the photo album as their guide, in order to retrace the path of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. By photographing the locations in the soldier’s images, Carrière explores the themes of memory and history through the changing landscape. They visited the long list of places marked by the horrendous battles of The Great War: the Somme in Picardy, Artois in the North Pas-de-Calais and up to the vast fields of Flanders in Belgium. Carrière’s photographs document the sites which appear in the soldier’s album along with others on the Western Front, offering a contemporary view approximately 90 years after the infamous events, which continue to stigmatize these locations to this very day. The incredible light of the regions of northern France and the flatness of the land helps Carrière build a sense of mystery.  The photographs initiate dialogue about how the landscape was affected and the ways in which it has recovered. It is not only what is there or the evidence that remains, but also what is not there and the evidence of what no longer exists.

Carrière actively exhibits and publishes his work across Canada and in Europe. He has published fourphotographic books, which include Témoin de l’ombre (1995); Voyage à domicile (1997); Signes de jour (2002) and Dieppe, Landscapes and installations (2006) with Les 400 Coups.  He also teaches photography at André-Laurendeau College in Montréal. Carrière’s work can be found in many prominent collections, including the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris, Paris; Cinémathèque Québécoise, Montréal; Canadian Centre of Architecture, Montréal; Canadian War Museum, Ottawa; Collection du Prêt d’œuvres d’art, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec; Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa; Encontros da Imagem, Braga, Portugal; Pôle Image de Haute-Normandie, Rouen, France; Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; Canadian Council Art Bank, Ottawa; amongst many others.