Photomanipulation nominee

Adolescence comes with its share of complex contradictions. The need for self assertion runs alongside extreme vulnerability. If a teenager always remains alone in the face of her own metamorphosis, her bodily changes get hung, so to speak, in public. Exposed to the indelicate remarks of an uncle or a father who believe they are being funny, how we wish it were possible to disappear six feet underground…

Catherine Rondeau is a Montreal-based Canadian fine art photographer and videographer. Born in 1971 in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, she grew up in Sherbrooke, Québec, in a predominantly French-speaking milieu. After completing an Arts and Letters program in junior college, she went on to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography from Montreal's Concordia University. Her combined skills in writing and lens work allowed her to carve out a career as a freelance video journalist. In 2010, Rondeau earned a Master’s degree in Communication from the Université du Québec à Montréal. The following year, she published an essay on the concept of fantasy in folklore and fairy tales. Inspired by her research, she made a return to photography with an initial series of digital photomontages (Beyond the Looking Glass) that focuses on the imaginary world of children. In her latest series (Northern Crossing), the artist naturally transitioned to explore the period of early adolescence.