Yes. And the exploration continues. Tourism is like a system and although cold has a tendency to slow things down, the system never completely stops. People still have to work…despite the cold. And tourists, despite their tendency to overlook what they should wear in such a cold place, are still taking pictures of the extraordinary things they see. And sometimes they find things that, even to me, are surprising to see…like this woman street performer (in the image below) who was simply staying still in the freezing cold. The sun disappears quickly in the narrow alleys of the old city…

As I am writing this, I am reminded of what Magnum’s Richard Kalvar said in his Magnum in Motion piece called Earthlings (which is also a book): “It’s slightly dishonest, but I say that I’m just collecting photons that would disappear anyway…”   Although we both play with photons, my work doesn’t look at all like his. Fortunately. But in both cases I think that the photon is a pretty magical thing because it allows us to see what would otherwise remain…unseen. And in both cases, I think we are bending the reality, just a bit, to allow the “observer” to see things from a slightly different angle. From another perspective.

I only recently understood what I was doing as I stood in the middle of a huge clear-cut north of La Tuque at night, also under a full moon. On a roadtrip to document the St-Maurice river, we had decided to camp in what had once been a pine forest. Even though it was full, the moon was rather small and at first I thought the light didn’t seem to be strong enough to let me create a picture.  Still, the moon was in front of me and I had to put my hand in front of it in order to block the light that was preventing me to see our camp. This is what made me realize the real power of the light reflected from this small moon. As we went further in, we eventually lost the small light that was coming from a candle in our tent. When my eyes eventually got used to the low intensity of the light, I realized that in fact, in a way, this light was as harsh as direct sunlight. It was not as strong, but I could see my shadow, a clear sign that the light was there.

The experience was rather surreal. I probably had a similar feeling to that of being on the moon itself, or Mars, where the experience of light must be awesome. Anyway, ever since that first night with my parents, whenever I got the chance, I have been “making” pictures during full moons…

The following images were all “created” in the clear-cut I mentioned above.

This morning’s post is for a new category that I will call My Muse. I think every photographer should have one. If not, they are unlucky because it is really nice to be able, once in a while, to capture a portrait of someone you are close to. Unlike taking a picture of someone you don’t know, when you take one of your muse, you will actually know if it is a good portrait, a portrait that is representative of what the person felt at this particular moment. This is why I think a good portrait is hard to define…

“A true portrait should today and a hundred years from today, be the testimony of how this person looked and what kind of human being he was.” – Philippe Halsman

I guess what Halsman said is true and if you are interested in portraiture, you can read Steve McCurry’s Thoughts on Portraiture on his blog.

I personnally think that a good portrait cannot be defined by words. It certainly isn’t defined by appearence, although a person’s physics can tell a lot, but forget clothing or make-up. A good portrait is something that can be felt, not described. This means that the photographer can only try and photograph a person the way he or she was during that particular moment and if the photographer is really curious and really paying close attention, he or she will probably be able to catch a glimpse of that person. I would also add that a good portrait usually takes a bit of time; to make a portrait is to grab a moment. But enough with the blabla, have a look at those and tell me what you think of what I think.

It is temporarily called Portrait of Asia, as I am trying to portray the Asian people who come to visit the Old Quebec district which is the main destination in Quebec city for Asian tourism.

Asians differ from other tourists. It is hard to describe, but when I’m on the street, I can feel they are. I can see they are. But you will be able to judge by yourself with the images that I will post here…