As part of the exhibition The Photobook in Quebec: Current Perspectives
Saturday, November 29, 2025 — 2:00 pm @ Artexte's reading room
As part of the public programming surrounding the exhibition The Photobook in Quebec: Current Perspectives, on view at Artexte until December 13, 2025, join us for a conversation on Saturday, November 29th at 2:00 pm in the Artexte reading room.
During this conversation, photographers Alexis Desgagnés and Louis Perreault will exchange with curator Serge Allaire about current dynamics related to narrative and conceptual resources in contemporary photography books. Drawing on their respective experiences, they will share their journeys, challenges and visions. This conversation will offer in-depth insight into creative and editorial issues, while exploring the developments and innovations that are shaping visual storytelling through photographic publishing today.
Event schedule
2:00 pm – discussion
3:30 pm – question period
5:00 pm – end of event
About our participants
Serge Allaire is a specialist in Canadian and international contemporary art history and in the history of photography in the Department of Art History at UQÀM. As an independent curator, he has contributed to several exhibitions and catalogues, as well as collaborated on various publications, including Montréal au XXe siècle : Regards de photographes (Les Éditions de l’Homme, 1995), among others. He has also written articles for local and international specialized art magazines. As an invited curator at the Rencontres internationales de la photographie in Gaspésie, Serge Allaire was responsible for the photography book section during five years. He has also organized exhibitions on photography books in France and in Montreal. As a researcher, he has completed several residencies on the theme of the photobook, notably at Artexte (Montreal, 2016) and the Canadian Photography Institute (Ottawa, 2017).
Alexis Desgagnés is engaged in multifaceted research exploring the fields of writing, drawing, and photography. An artist, author, and art historian, Desgagnés’ work questions the place of Quebec culture in history. In 2016 and 2021, the Éditions du renard published Banqueroute and Ammoniaque, two artist’s books by Desgagnés combining photography and poetry. Originally from Quebec City, Alexis Desgagés lives in Montreal and teaches art history at the Cegep level.
Louis Perreault lives and works in Montreal. He pursues his practice through his personal photography projects and through the publishing projects he collaborates on. Founder and co-director of Éditions du renard, he teaches photography at Cégep André-Laurendeau. In 2007, he completed a BFA (major in photography) at Concordia University, where he also obtained an interdisciplinary master’s degree in visual arts (MA Fine Arts) in 2012. In his practice, Louis seeks to visually translate the intangible aspects of our relationship with places. Whether natural or urban spaces, he searches for points of contact between the outside world, with all its challenges, its complexities and physical or social particularities, and the inner, intimate world where we absorb what we experience and feel. His projects take the form of visual poetry and narratives, and are mainly presented in the form of photographic artist’s books. His work has been exhibited mainly in Quebec, notably at the Rencontres de la photographie en Gaspésie (2023, 2022), the Rencontre photographique du Kamouraska (2016, 2017), at Vu Photo (2017, 2013), at the Centre d’exposition Raymond-Lasnier (2013), and online as part of interactive documentaries created by the NFB (Otage de moi, 2010)