This year the theme of the festival is Drone — The automated image and it is guest curated by Paul Wombell. I’ve been going to this festival pretty much since it started and the exhibitions are almost always laden with experimental (less conventional) photography and themes that require reflection. If you’re looking for more conventional photography (beautiful landscapes, still lifes, street photography) you normally won’t find it at this festival.

Although Le mois de la photo is a photography festival, many exhibitions will be video based and some will feature installations. I always find a few exhibitions that I really like and will report back on my faves.  Feel free to check out the exhibitions here.

This Saturday I spent about 3–4 hours going to different exhibitions that make up Mois De La Photo (Photo Month) in Montreal. I’m not fond of writing about things I don’t like, I MUCH prefer to select a few things that I do like and write about those.

I was disappointed in the work that I saw overall. I saw about 8–10 exhibitions and I won’t name them. It wasn’t because the work was bad or anything, it just was not my cup of tea. Almost everything I saw was dark-themed, abstract, overly-intellectualized, and WAY too experimental imo. I have nothing against experimental, but imagine if 99% of everything you heard at the Montreal Jazz fest was experimental.…it would suck for most people. People expect festivals that they go to, to somewhat represent their idea of what the festival is about. Of the 8 Exhibitions, 3 of them had videos…Video is not photography. I DO have an open mind BTW; I guess I just would have liked even a teeny representation of the work that I saw to be similar to the fine art photography that I like to see.

So at the end of the day, I guess my issue is with the Title, “Mois de la photo”. Such a conventional title, it makes you think you will be seeing ‘some’ conventional photography. You will not (as far as I can tell from my sample). I’d much rather they title the thing Experimental photo Month.

Of the 8 exhibitions I saw, the only one I liked a bit was The Dead by Jack Burman. Large prints of dead people preserved in formaldehyde. Not trying to be facetious here, but Burman’s exhibition was one of the most concrete, and “accessible” ones. You know full well what you are looking at.

From Hand to Mouth, 1993. Installation view, The American Center, Paris, 1995. Photo: Jeff Guess. Courtesy of the artist

The above photograph (and this is one of the many exhibitions that I personally visited) is a great example of ‘alternative photography’ and‚ thinking outside of the box. The goal of this exhibit is not simple, it requires thought; active thought. People will experience this exhibit in a personal way. Some will like it, some will hate it, and others will scratch their heads and go “Hmmmm”. Personally, I dug it big-time. I like things that are different. I like to think and feel. I’m not into McDonald’s and their freakishly annoying mainstream clown.

Here’s the ‘official website’ write-up on Guess’s exhibition:

With From Hand to Mouth (1993), a 22-metre long photographic series, Jeff Guess treats viewers to an original visual experience. The piece takes the form of a circular panorama hung from the ceiling of a darkened room. The artist assigns a particular place to viewers, who are invited to step into the centre of the installation. Without a privileged viewpoint that would make it possible to take in all the images at once, the work invites viewers to move about, to circulate. From Hand to Mouth is shown with a single, isolated photograph, Fonce Alphonse (1993).

This exhibition is just one of many that make up this year’s Mois de la photo. So get your shoes on and get out there this weekend to see the work before the exhibition is over. Bring an open mind, your brain but leave your cash at home. The exhibitions and mental stimulation are free.