Fashion, photography set to takeover Montreal

The M.A.D. Festival is taking over downtown Montreal on Thursday August 22, and will be celebrating local talent with live music, dance, visual arts, and fashion.

The kickoff will feature a special discussion at the Wilder Building with Stéphane Le Duc and Thierry-Maxime Loriot, curator of the exhibition Portraits and Fashion – Quebec Photographers Beyond Borders. Montrealers will explore Quebec artists who have influenced top fashion magazines, advertising, and the global music scene.

“I think it’s fantastic and it’s very inspiring, I think, for a generation to see all these photographers. Men, women, black, white, you know, it reflects also the diversity in the society we live in,” said Thierry-Marime Loriot, the curator of the fashion exhibition presented at the McCord Stewart Museum.

“The exhibition presents 17 photographers, all, actually not all from Quebec. Some came to Quebec later, but they all learned photography in Quebec. And it was basically to showcase their talent and to show also that it’s possible to be a photographer in Quebec, learn photography in Montreal or elsewhere in Quebec and have an international career. So that’s why the exhibition is called Beyond Borders.”

Le Duc added, “Some of the photographers, we see them in magazines like Vogue, like Vanity Fair, like Elle France. Those magazines that are so important in the industry are made, not mostly, but very often by Quebec photographers. And not many people know that.”

Montrealer Muni Amuli came to see and hopefully meet Marylin Fitoussy, the stylist behind the television series Emily in Paris, and also to connect with the sense of belonging she finds at the M.A.D. Festival.

“I’m a huge fan of the M.A.D. Festival. I showcased one of my collections there two years ago, so it already feels like home to me. Plus, as a fashion enthusiast, it’s just a perfect fit,” said Amuli in French.

Le Duc adding, “Tonight we’re going to have one photographer. She was there 30 years ago and she was one of the first women to be in photography in Montreal because it was mostly men that were photographers and mostly in fashion. It’s great to show that women have talent.”

This discussion highlights a new generation of global talent, such as the renowned photographer Alex Black, who is on the panel. Montreal artist Gabriel Rhome is a great admirer of her work.

“In the show I find that she was able to showcase a part of her work that is a bit more out there, a bit more like pushing the limits of what a picture can be,” said Rhome.

“You can have an international career even if you’re from Gaspésie or from Beauce and work for Vogue and Vanity Fair and shoot an album cover for Lady Gaga, for example,” said Loriot.