"O Canada, 10,000 miles from Coast to Coast" Photograph

My approach starting point can be summarized in only one word, photography. The Greek prefix "photo" (φωτoς) and suffix "-graphy" (γραφειν) mean "that uses light - resulting in an image." This light offers me the opportunity to capture color, intensity, contrast and decisive moments. Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson has illustrated this moment and vision of photography by :

A way of life, shooting a photograph is aligning head, eye and heart in the same line of sight.

My life has changed when I have discovered photography. I was 19 years old. At that time, I did not realized that my passion would lead me to come and settle in Canada. I did not know that the city of Montreal would become "the town of my first things": my first book, my first exhibit, my first media interview, my first dream...

Today, the word dream guides every step and every breath I take, and every thought that occurs to me. This force is infinite. Therefore, when I decided to make a cross-Canada bicycle trip alone, I chose to do it by helping sick children to realize their own best wishes. Throughout the 10,000 miles pedaled from coast to coast, about $ 30,000 were raised for the Children's Wish Foundation.

Year 2010 marked a major turning point in my career as a photographer, as an artist and in my life. I did mix works of art with stained-glass windows and my own pictures taken during my bike trip. I showed them in exhibition from June, 24th to August, 22nd, at the Charlevoix Museum located in La Malbaie, Quebec, where I reside. Some 800 commentaries written down by visitors encouraged me in my approach and informed me about what impact my work has on the public. Then, I did another exhibit from September, the 30th to October, the 17th at the Espace Cercle Carré, a Montreal showroom.

Moreover, I realized in 2010 my second coffee table book, O Canada, 10,000 miles from Coast to Coast, self-published with Eric Clement, reporter at the Montreal French daily newspaper La Presse. As Albert Schweitzer said: "Happiness is the only thing that doubles when shared".
Bertrand Lemeunier