Introducing a personal vision into a documentary
approach, Charles-Frédérick Ouellet creates
contemplative series in which dark, untreated images
form dramatic visual narratives.
Interested in photography as artefact and with the
intention of bridging past and present, the artist
directs his attention to places that bear the trace of
history, and to traditions that are disappearing in
silence. At the same time, he explores the intimate
aspects of documentary photography, believing that
images record more information about their author
than one tends to think, including feelings and
desires - be they anxiety, fear or unease - that arose
while in contact with his subjects.
Once detached from the descriptive nature of
photography, Ouellet's images become poetic, almost
mythical in their potential to reveal or suggest
invisible forces. They participate in photographic
narratives where real places are moulded into a
melancholic, oneiric universe.
Over the past few years, Ouellet has been
investigating the particular energy that surrounds
communities that have settled along the sea. His
photographic series examine the sea as an active
element in the way people live along the shore,
suggesting that its constant motion and dazzling
power leave marks on people and places alike.
In Le Naufrage, Ouellet recounts the everyday life of
men working at sea along the coast of the St.
Lawrence River.These photographs address the fragile
balance that exists in the relation between people and
their environment. The series of images moves from
raw depictions to dreamlike impressions, looking for
situations in which human and nature haunt one
another
Awards Le travail de Charles-Frédérick Ouellet a été exposé à plusieurs endroits au Québec (VU, REGART, Espace F, etc.), en Écosse et en France. Il est représenté par la galerie Lacerte art contemporain. Il vit et travaille à Québec. Charles-Frédérick Ouellet est cofondateur du collectif KAHEM et membre du studio hans lucas depuis 2015.
