Jean-François Bouchard

A lot. I was initially interested in classical street photography and documentary work. My work is still rooted in these influences but my approach has evolved to become more conceptual. I feel that contemporary art allows me to tell richer and more touching human stories where my own emotions as an artist are part of the narrative.

I always saw photography as a very powerful medium. Many photographers are often unsung heroes of modern times in my view. Some people believe that the mounting ubiquity of photography is diluting the power of the tool and drowning photographic works of art in an incessant torrent of imagery produced by the masses. I believe it is quite the opposite. Great photographic storytellers now have a far more sophisticated and engaged visual audience. Photography has another moment as a witness of the human condition.

I am interested in fringe subcultures – and more specifically, the extreme of such subcultures – as a telltale of mainstream culture. I am interested in libertarian values and the meaning of freedom in American society. My current projects are an exploration of these themes.

My approach is usually anchored in empathy. I am interested in subcultures but I always find the same truth: although fringe groups may seem to be defined by their differences with mainstream culture, they are in fact composed of people who are 99,9% like all other humans. This project presented an interesting challenge to me: for the first time, I was documenting people with views radically different from mine. Empathy proved more difficult to summon! But I was determined to step out of my bubble (or echo chamber, as many call it) to try genuinely to better understand this reality and these fellow humans. It worked. I grasped their context and beliefs much better. It has not changed my own views, but I have a much more informed perspective on the matter.

My goal was to immerse viewers into the reality I stepped into. The surreal feel of the photographs is a reflection of my own perception of the immersion into this strange world. Many viewers assume the photographs have been shot with sophisticated equipment and a large crew; in reality, I shot most of the night series with a flashlight I bought at a dollar store!
What appears in each image is what was in front of my eyes, without photo-retouching or fancy production. Celebrated photographers such as Edward Burtynsky or Andreas Gursky also make reality almost cinematic and unreal by finding beauty and emotion in deadpan representations of pollution, natural destruction or heavy industry, for example.

My goal is to engage the senses of viewers to complement what photography can achieve. I believe that the installations made of found objects add a layer that almost amounts to anthropology. The physicality of these bullet-ridden works conveys the violence of the subject.

My more interesting discovery was that most of my subjects consider gun ownership not just as a right but also as a civic duty. Their belief is that a healthy democracy is made possible by keeping the government in check with a balance of power between central power and an armed population. Therefore, they see themselves not only as protectors of personal freedom but also as defenders of the greater good.

My goal is to immerse viewers into my own discovery journey. I always hope that my work will help people better understand other humans. That does not mean it needs to change someone’s views. Simply providing a perspective into the thinking of others – and the context that drives their culture – is what I thrive to do.

This project is really a study of freedom. What does freedom mean in modern society? We talk a lot about civil rights when considering freedom, but I think that many aspects of freedom remain driven by mysterious motivations. What drives people to abandon modern comforts for absolute, lawless living in harsh conditions? What is the cost of that freedom? By seeking such extreme libertarian freedom, does one actually lose it?

I believe that humans create false boundaries between themselves. We tend to see boundaries between cultures, people, disciplines and places. I think that life becomes richer when we cross these artificial borders and think creatively over the divides. C2 is an exploration of what happens when the business world embraces social, environmental, artistic, ethical and scientific realities to adopt a more progressive stance and better play its role in society.

I think that pursuing diverse interests and cultivating passion projects is key to living a full, creative life. I always saw my artistic projects as a second calling, not just a hobby. I feel like I have two, three jobs. And I love every minute of it. Somehow, my different pursuits feed off each other.

This year, I will be spending many weeks embedded in off-the-grid communities in the United States. It is hard living. But based on my previous stays, I know that I will meet people with fascinating stories, and it will make up for the heat, dust and crappy food! My current show will also be shown in a few different cities around the world and I look forward to meeting new people from the art scene in these places.