Jean Bonnard

Born in France, living in Montreal, Canada





I fell in love with photography by developing a lot of black and white films, then printing on paper, sometimes good photographs, often bad ones. The appearance of the image in the developer showed me the magical side of photography. It’s fair to say that shooting has always been at the heart of my work, but without printing and developing, my endless curiosity and interest in photography would not have been as strong.

I started out in the world of photography at the age of 17 when I bought a complete used laboratory from another student in my secondary school class. It was a set containing a Durst B30 enlarger, a Paterson developing tank, cuvettes and clamps. My long experience of photography has been largely self-taught. But I was given good advice on developing and printing photographs, including framing, masking and correct exposure, when I was a member of a photographic club during my second year at university.

So, for many years now, I’ve been developing my method by focusing mainly on two components that form the basis of my photographic production. The first is balance, and the second is what I call a balanced aesthetic. With these two components, I try to achieve harmony th...

1988 Bachelor of Science (Electrical Engineering) (Paris XI University, France)

2017- 2018 Art and Café, Montreal