THE GENTLE WITNESS:
My Life as a Documentary Photographer
Presenter: Louise Abbott
Monday, November 26, 2018
LOUISE ABBOTT
WEBSITE:
https://www.ruralroutecommunications.com/ CBC’s radio show “The Bridge,” featuring Louise Abbott: http://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/the-bridge/episode/15539542 |
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Louise Abbott is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. She has spent nearly forty years chronicling the history and culture of rural and
indigenous communities in eastern Canada, and examining the social and environmental challenges thatface these communities. She is the author of several books, including The Coast Way, The French Shore, The Heart of the Farm, Eeyou Istchee: Land of the Cree, and, most recently, Memphrémagog: An Illustrated History (volumes 1 and 2). Over the past decade, Abbott has collaborated with several Cree groups and directed a series of documentaries in Eeyou Istchee, including the award winning “Nunaaluk: A Forgotten Story.” She currently holds a CALQ grant to produce documentaries about three Townships artists. She also has a commission to make a documentary about the history and contemporary role of the Ayer’s Cliff Fair, which will celebrate its 175th anniversary in 2020. “It was a compulsion to explore and to understand the world that motivated me to take up documentary work decades ago. I still believe in the power of documentary to inform and move the viewer. Although I’ve always strived to produce strong stand-alone images as a photographer, I’ve created photo essays or books to make more comprehensive statements.” (written by Louise Abbott) Abbott has exhibited her photographs in solo shows and in group shows, in galleries and museums in many parts of Canada as well as abroad. Her work is found in several public collections, including the Canada Council Art Bank, Library and Archives Canada, the Musée du Québec, and the National Gallery of Canada (Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography collection). |
