Jeff Downer (born in Port Coquitlam) is a Vancouver-based artist and recent graduate of Emily Carr University. His recent exhibitions include a group show at 221A, The 2013 Graduate Show at Emily Carr in Vancouver, and the Canadian Center for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal. He has two self-published photobooks, Gol Nu Get Mote, 2011, and [Ver-seylz], 2012. He was chosen to be included in Index: Five Emerging Vancouver Photographers at Gallery 295 (June 7th – July 6th 2013). Jurors included members of the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Presentation House Gallery. He will be exhibiting as part of the Capture Photography Festival: Vancouver’s first annual city-wide photography festival this upcoming October. His work will occupy a billboard, space traditionally reserved for advertising in the downtown core, engaging photographic work in a public space.
Montreal
In this particular work Montreal I was asked by the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) to make a body of work for their exhibition ABC:MTL. I was given one week in Montreal to produce a single narrative around my experience of the city during winter. It was a sort of phenomenological experiment. I think photographers are especially influenced by their surroundings as it makes up the bulk of our work. We move through locations that are either by choice or not looking for potential images. It is very hard to not have these spaces affect us and thus the work we make. The photographs denote a contingency while ruminating on the banal, everyday, and often overlooked aspects of a society. They are but one result of wondering through frigid urban streets for one week.
To view more of Jeff’s work, please visit his website.