Retelling Montreal historical past by means of road images

Photography exhibition Pounding The Pavement seeks to inform the story of Montreal’s streets for the reason that nineteenth century

Fringe ArtsMaya St-Antoine — Published September 30, 2025 3 minutes

Pounding the Pavement, sectioned by artists, options 30 sequence of images curated from the McCord assortment, representing completely different factors of views of Montreal’s tradition for the reason that 1800s. 

The present options six primary themes, similar to “Events and Incidents” and “Talking to the Street,” in addition to a brief movie that includes Concordia University images college students Daniel Cross, Jack Belley and Japhy Saretsky, as they shoot pictures at evening.

The concept for the exhibition first got here to curator Zoë Tousignant in 2019 as a response to the museum’s most up-to-date acquisitions, as a method to showcase the McCord assortment. The pictures, consisting of over three million objects, are virtually solely handpicked. 

The mission, which blends social, city and political images, goals to point out the legacy road images in Montreal’s historical past. Some sequence purpose to symbolize day-to-day life within the metropolis, whereas others are extra political and present protests all through the years. 

Tousignant calls the exhibition an “homage to the city” and mentioned she wished to spotlight a number of views, portraying all sides of Montreal, flattering or not. 

“The history we have of Montreal is often one-sided,” she mentioned. “I wanted to find these different voices that explore the different sides.”

She wished the exhibition to not solely rejoice town but additionally showcase important parts, to show each the great and dangerous sides of its historical past. 

Stylistically, the exhibition options not solely conventional road images as we all know them, taken spontaneously, but additionally pictures that present urbanism and structure. 

“I included artists that might not see themselves as street photographers but nonetheless depicted the city in very dedicated ways,” Tousignant mentioned.

The exhibit additionally has a particular give attention to the artists, that includes full sequence as an alternative of particular person images. This method, viewers skilled a much bigger physique of labor from every artist and appreciated their distinctive model and approach. 

Among the featured photographers is Concordia professor and acclaimed artist Clara Gutsche. After shifting to Montreal in 1970, she shortly fell in love with town and with photographing it.

Her sequence “The Windows” (1976-1980) paperwork storefront shows throughout Montreal.

“Windows are a visual expression of urban culture. The conscious or unconscious decisions of the shopowners reflect the culture of the city and neighbourhoods,” Gutsche mentioned of her work.

Her sequence facilities extra round aesthetics and urbanism. She talks about discovering the juxtaposition of unlikely objects amusing, and the pictures paying homage to her summer time walks by means of the Mile End.

Bertrand Carrière’s sequence “Chronique Nocturne” marks one other spotlight, with one in all its pictures because the face of the exposition. Carrière displays on his expertise as a road photographer within the ‘70s.

“It was the trend, influences were huge, from Robert Frank to [William] Klein,” Carrière mentioned. “American photography had a huge impact here.”

He additionally talked about Weegee as an inspiration for his sequence, saying he would go to large occasions and use the gang as camouflage to get his footage. 

“I was looking to do something humanistic, a testament to this period of time,” Carrière mentioned.

His sequence provides a deeply human and cultural aspect of Montreal, revealing his affection for town. 

The exhibition has many extra sequence to discover, from acclaimed photographers like Brian Merrett, Serge Clément and Gilbert Duclos. It additionally spotlights lesser-known however equally hanging artists, together with Edith H. Mather, David W. Marvin, Alan B. Stone and John Taylor. 

This article initially appeared in Volume 46, Issue 3, revealed September 30, 2025.