Luc Delahaye

Photographs from the series History. Courtesy of Ricco/Maresca Gallery and Magnum Photos.
© Luc Delahaye

The news magazine is not the only venue for events-based photography. Sometimes the gallery wall is an alternative to the compulsive consumption of news images. In fact, exhibitions invite a mode of reception that is more propitious to contemplation and meditation. Reviving the decorum of classical historical representation even as he acknowledges the heritage of the pioneers of news photography, Luc Delahaye creates panoramic views of the world’s principal hot spots. Delahaye’s images, although they sometimes show the horror of these places, are silent, discreet and reserved— diametrically opposed to the resounding vulgarity of press photographs.

Luc Delahaye
Born in France in 1962. Lives and works in Paris.

Luc Delahaye became a photographer in his early twenties. Groomed in the tradition of reportage photography, he distinguished himself during the 1980s and 1990s with award-winning reports from Lebanon, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Chechnya and Yugoslavia, shot independently and on behalf of news magazines like Newsweek. This work was characterized not only by its raw and direct recording of news events, but also by a philosophical engagement with the issue of representation. The war series from this period combine a visceral and often perilous closeness to events with intellectual detachment and a questioning attitude with respect to his own presence and what constitutes the “real.”

Quartier Éphémère: Face au temps présent
745, rue Ottawa, Montréal
(514) 392-1554
Exhibition hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 12pm tp 6pm, Thursday from 12pm tp 10pm
From September 4 to September 25, 2003
Opening: September 3, 2003 at 8h30pm