Experimental nominee

In this project, the creation of his images is done through the use of a bellows camera followed by various manipulations in the darkroom. Wet collodion is his preferred process which allows prints to be made on glass plates. For O’Shaughnessy, this medium becomes a place of experimentation to architect dreamlike paintings to not capture what he thinks, but to understand what he thinks. By combining ancient processes with today's technology, he revisits the knowledge of the past to push the limits of visual photography as well as its current concepts.

Francis O’Shaughnessy is an artist-researcher in the field of visual arts. His research focuses on dreams. He opts for visual poetry: an artistic ceremony that aims at the conception of the poem as a photographic event. His work highlights poetic images that express inner resonances; compositions that awaken imaginative discourse. He has presented his work in Canada, France, Colombia, Latvia, Mexique, Chili, Italy, Lettonie and Cuba. His photographs have been selected for the National Audacity Award (France, 2013), have received the Originality of Vision distinction (Montréal, 2015), and a special mention from the ForCGal Foundation, (Québec, 2015). His visual research is housed in several private and public collections. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Laval University, a Master’s Degree from UQAC, and a Doctor (Ph.D.) of Arts Studies and Practices from UQAM. He lives and works in Montreal (Canada).