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A class act: Raymonde April presents Équivalences with help from numerous grads 

By Anna Sarkissian

Raymonde April started as a part-time photography instructor in 1985 and since then, her legendary status has only grown.

The renowned artist, professor and chair of studio arts recently unveiled the first two parts of her photo exhibit, Équivalences, at two galleries in the Belgo Building: Les Territoires (see related story in this issue) and Galerie Donald Browne. The third and fourth installments, which will also feature a video, will open together at Occurrence Gallery on Jan. 30.

April’s work has been exhibited in Canada and around the world. She was awarded the Prix Paul-Émile Borduas in 2003 and the Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Prize for Art Photography in 2005.

In Équivalences 1 and 2, she presents images of daily life, scenes from China, a photographer’s dark room, and family snapshots, among others. She experimented with a variety of cameras, including a Nikon Coolpix, a Hasselblad with a digital back and a Mamiya 6x7 medium format camera.

While there’s no running narrative, each image has its own story. The images work individually but negotiate the space together. April’s idea was to create several autonomous series that are equal. Some images echo each other and similar themes pop up.

April’s creative process has been the same since the 70s. She grabs the images as they happen and creates the structure later. She describes it as finding, instead of building.

“I tend to work quite fast. I shoot a lot,” she says. “When I finally have the materials, I select and select and select. What remains works like written pieces.”

She compares her approach with Équivalences to a text. Once you’ve got sentences together, you can say different things with different words. But you’ve also got the sound and the space between the words.

“This is the antithesis of a commercial show. She does not offer spectacle, she offers poetry,” says gallery director Donald Browne, whose first class at Concordia in 1987 was Photo 200, taught by none other than April. He’s now her art dealer.

“She has quite the following,” he adds.

Browne is not the only former student in the mix: Eduardo Ralickas (see related story in this issue) curated the show, Andreas Rutkauskas printed the images, Karine Cossette designed the brochure, Martin Schop made the frames and Erika Kierulf edited the video.

“She surrounds herself with students and collaborates with them,” says Ralickas. “It’s very rewarding for all of us.”

April says she feels lucky to work with so many young photographers. “I really enjoy the community,” she says. “It’s very supportive.”

Équivalences 1 is at Galerie Donald Browne, 372 Ste-Catherine W #528, until Feb. 13. Équivalences 2 is at Les Territoires, 372 Ste-Catherine W #527, until Feb. 6. Équivalences 3 and 4 is at Occurrence, 5277 Parc, from Jan. 30 to March 13.