Hope

Hope (2014) is the name of my favourite town in Canada as well as a series made in and around small Canadian towns in the regions where I grew up. Returning to these familiar places, I use my own image as a way to introduce strange and unexpected disruptions into otherwise ordinary scenes. The photographs often begin with chance encounters: places I come across while wandering, and situations that emerge from being there.

The North American landscape has always been an important part of my work and imagination. Vast stretches of wilderness sit alongside parking lots, highways, small industrial centres and sleepy residential neighbourhoods. These places have stayed with me, shaping my memories, both real and imagined, and finding their way into my photographs.

I'm drawn to the overlooked spaces tucked alongside the routes we travel every day: neglected roadside stops, empty lots and places that are only ever briefly occupied. Their everyday, slightly rundown character holds something mysterious and unexpected, where the ordinary can suddenly feel strange.

Prix Élysée nomination, 2014

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