Thomas Bouquin
at Percé
EXHIBIT
Le Roc d’Ercé
La Neigère building | Charles-Robin historical sector of Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé National Park | Rue du Quai | Percé
Thomas Bouquin, Montreal, Québec | thomasbouquin.com
A native of France, Thomas Bouquin lives and works in Montreal and holds a BFA degree in photography from Concordia University.
In 2008 he emigrated to Canada, and that change of continent became the raw material for his work. His pictures have been exhibited in Vancouver and Montreal in Canada; in New York and Los Angeles in the U.S.; in London and Brighton in the U.K.; and in Paris, Sète and Arles in France. His work has also been presented in various publications, either in print or online. Thomas Bouquin is one of the co-founders of the Photobook Club de Montréal, and he also works as a freelance photographer and photo researcher for the press.
EXHIBIT AT RENCONTRES
Le Roc d’Ercé
With his photographs, Thomas Bouquin creates a convergence point between distant spaces that distinguish two places, two cultures, two histories, in order to construct a new territory. Le Roc d’Ercé explores a history of successive waves of immigrations that took place between the village of Ercé, in the Ariège Pyrenees of France, and New York City from the end of the 19th century until today. Ercé is the historical capital of bear tamers: the inhabitants would collect bear cubs in the mountains that they then trained as a means of generating income by exhibiting them in the streets. Dozens of them emigrated to New York, accompanied by their animals, hoping to make a fortune with their shows. In the valley they were called the “Americans.” In the heart of Manhattan, a rock called the “Roc d’Ercé” bears witness to the visits of Ercéans, who would get together every Sunday to share information about the country and to help one another.