PERSONAL PROJECTS
ABANDONED ARCHITECTURE
Fascinated by places that create a link to the past, François LeClair was able to capture the beauty of places that are condemned to be demolished.
His camera caught the emotion in these vestiges of forever forgotten everyday life. The photographer was the last witness to this place and he let the building tell its story.
Ultimately, the angle and the light reveal the nostalgic charm of each photograph. François LeClair transforms ruins, fragments and leftovers into aesthetic poems where beauty and sadness intermingle, disappearing into each other.
Here are the last moment of an old cottage before it's demolition.
WHEN THE UGLY BECOMES BEAUTIFUL
The overpass at Iberville and St-Joseph is ugly. Very ugly. The city of Montreal has drawn strange diagrams and numbers here and there as to illustrate a possible diagnosis of it's advanced state of decay. On a deadly cold January day, I photographed it from all possible angles. Here are the selected images.
VARIOUS PERSONAL PROJECTS
Here are various personal projects.
THE RED SHOE
One year, the CAPIC* suggested the theme “The Red Shoe” for its annual exhibition.
Each participant had to use one of the pairs of red shoes that were bought especially for this occasion and make it the star of a photograph. From the beginning, this theme was controversial. Some found it too restrictive; others, too frivolous. Many were completely uninspired and chose to skip the exhibition altogether. This controversy pushed François LeClair to tackle the challenge from a social perspective. He photographed an Asian child carrying a box with the red shoes as an offering, a reference to the use of child labour to produce these luxury products. On the box containing the shoes, is a photograph of the shoes, pictured as though they are a couple, embraced in a dance of seduction.
*The Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators.
THE BLACK BOX
One of the annual CAPIC* exhibitions asked participants to explore the theme “The Black Box”.
This theme allowed multiple possibilities for the participants. François LeClair chose to do a self-portrait of the black box. Hiding a digital camera inside a cardboard box, he built a lens by punching a tiny hole into the protective cover of the device. He then placed it in front of the mirror of an old dresser he found at the Bonheur d’occasion Inn in Saint-Henri.
At the preview of the exhibition, photographers were invited to present their portfolio to visitors, along with a self-portrait. So François LeClair developed a series of pictures on the theme “The Black Box” (all on display in this section) as well as a self-portrait with his black box.
*The Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators.