Renaud Lafrenière (b.1994) holds a BFA in photography at Concordia University in Montréal. His work was exhibited in photography festivals and group exhibitions in Montréal, Vendôme (France) and Rovaniemi (Finland). He considers his work to reflect a constant research on the accumulative nature of photography and the capacities of the archive as a tool for art-making. Renaud has a keen eye for several themes, including but not limited to, romance, wonder, poetry, quality of light, double-meanings and the act of touch. Renaud was born and currently based in Montréal.
Odyssey and other images
My artistic practice is rooted in photography – its accumulative quality and its relation to the archive. Looking at things from a roaming and constantly re-considered point of view, I photograph in a semi-diaristic approach that leads into a malleable understanding of narrative and sequencing. Although an intrinsic and obvious part of the work, the photograph takes strength and meaning in the way it is phrased amongst others of its kind. I am interested in how images can transcend their own referent through the use of an intuitive photographic vision. Disjointing the work from the narrative, I aim to create a visual language through symbolic and semiotic associations that makes the viewer question what is being looked at and why it matters. The selection process, an important component of my practice, as it helps me formulate the work through making the images interact amongst themselves, altering their nature, forcing them to communicate, constantly repositioning and reforming them. The work speaks to the act of intuitive looking and is at times romantic, organic, formalist, or completely autobiographic. The vision depicted in the work resembles a chaotic farrago of images where the relations drawn between them is tangible and sits at the core of their coexistence.
This project was exhibited in April 2018 at Le Livart in Montréal, as part of the Vitamine Scout Collective (www.vitaminescout.com).
To view more of Renaud Lafrenière’s work please visit his website.