JEANNE D'ARC II / Resurrection Photograph - Limited Edition of 7

Martin Tremblay, also known as PINCH, was born June 15, 1969 in James Bay, just north of the 49th parallel. Martin’s early life was spent in the heart of the boreal forest of Quebec and its vast territory brimming with natural resources. By the age of 21, he had spent two years in total darkness, working as a driller/dynamiter deep in a James Bay gold and copper mine. His father had just died, and it was then that his mother loaned him the family camera, a 110-format Instamatic. In this wild and majestic land, to the thought of observing and working with light was a revelation that would completely alter his life’s path. He decided to leave home in order to study photography at Cégep de Matane in Gaspésie, preferring to avoid the stress he associated with life in the big city. After his studies, he moved to Montreal and began working as a freelance fashion photographer. Martin describes this period as a struggle but it also encouraged him to develop an increasingly personal style. This eventually led him to photograph artists of international stature, including Lara Fabian and Steve Aoki. While continuing to explore the creative possibilities in fashion photography, he began to make his mark in advertising. His work can be seen on billboards across the city (Casino de Montréal, Air Transat, Air Canada, Labatt, Broadsign, Pepsi, Hydro-Québec, among others) and in major fashion magazines such as Noi.se Magazine, Schön Magazine, Z!Nk, Highlights Magazine, and BASIC Magazine. Project With his strong background in fashion and advertising photography, PINCH has embarked on a series entitled Resurrection, an attempt to reclaim the aesthetics of the Renaissance combined with a surrealist spirit. Understated colours and stylistic restraint are representative elements of the series. The female form becomes both sculptural and sensual, set against a background where the model’s individuality fades until she becomes a generic and idealized representation. In a spirit of mild provocation, PINCH incorporates iconoclastic images into his female forms ranging from the famous Popsicle® to a cyborg prosthesis, he and highly erotizes the Christian symbol of the Sacred Heart. His Resurrection are set against backdrops that are themselves a tease. Painted with a nod to backgrounds more typical of Renaissance paintings, they also play with linear perspectives.