Yvan Bedard — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Apr 28

Apr 28 Yvan Bedard

Biography

Yvan Bedard is born and still lives near Quebec City, Canada. He is a former academic researcher in geospatial data engineering, author, and international lecturer who has received several awards in Canada and the United States for his technological innovations. Having bought his first 35mm film camera at 17, he is a self-taught person. Nevertheless, he has undergone advanced training in Canada and the United States with some of the best photographers and artists. Despite his forays in watercolor and sculpture, he kept practicing photography and went digital as soon as 2003. Having always lived in mountainous regions or near rivers, he explored several regions in Quebec and the world. His love of nature has led him to specialize in landscape photography. In 2014, his artistic passion dominating his scientific passion, he decided to devote himself professionally to fine art landscape photography. A permanent artist in art galleries since 2014, his atypical career has not prevented him from having success with his art and participating in nearly forty solo and group exhibitions. This Professor Emeritus of Laval University offers photography courses and conferences. His works are published or parts of private collections in several countries.

Artist Statement

Yvan Bedard uses either soft lights in a cozy, minimalist, and mysterious atmosphere or strong lights in a glowing, powerful and lucid atmosphere. Going back and forth between zenitude and enchantment is the basis of his conception of nature. Rock and trees fascinate him as they convey the inner soul of Spatio-temporal models he designed as a scientist for three decades. He minimizes computer manipulations to avoid misrepresenting what he observed while making sure to express what he felt when making the photograph. He uses his sensory acuity in a slow and meticulous process, in the field and for computer processing and printing. He considers it important to carry out himself the entire photographic process up to printing on fine art paper or museum canvas. As for his luminarized color landscape photographs (a technique he developed based on Man Ray's solarization), they provoke the imagination of the observer with unusual spectral, spatial or temporal anchor points. (see last two photos). His photographs regularly transcend the border between painting, drawing, and photography.

What first prompted you to think of becoming an artist?

When I was younger, I hesitated between studying in Sciences or in Art. I went the “easiest” way, that is Sciences! So, I worked for 34 years as a university researcher and professor. I was very successful with several honors, 176 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 300 conferences worldwide. I loved it and I am now an Emeritus Professor in Engineering from Laval University, Quebec City, Canada. However, I also had another passion: landscape photography. Consequently, at the age of 56, I retired to pursue a full-time career in fine art landscape photography. Thus, the last third of my life is dedicated to art and it has also been successful insofar with several awards, group and solo exhibitions, and sales in art galleries. Collectors from several countries on four continents now enjoy my photographs.

What kind of an artist do you ultimately see yourself?

I see myself more and more as a hybrid between traditional landscape photography and minimalist painting. I create series of photographs that reveal less and less details while amplifying emotions. My photographs regularly transcend the border between painting, drawing and photography. I print myself on large fine-art textured canvas, which increases the painting look of my photographs. I use fine art paper only for small prints.

What are you hoping to communicate to the viewer through your work?

Pure beauty, ecstasy and peace of mind. I believe that nature is the best way to convey such emotions. Such scenes were, are and will always be efficient for these emotions. They live beyond epochs and trends.

Can you explain the process of creating your work?

I use either soft lights in a cozy, minimalist and mysterious atmosphere or strong lights in a glowing, powerful and lucid atmosphere. Going back and forth between zenitude and enchantment is the basis of my conception of nature. Rock and trees fascinate me as they convey the inner soul of spatio-temporal database models I designed as a scientist for three decades. I minimize computer manipulation to avoid misrepresenting what I observed while making sure to express what I felt when making the photograph. I use my sensory acuity in a slow and meticulous process, in the field as well as for computer processing and printing. I also consider important to carry out myself the entire photographic process up to printing on fine art paper or museum canvas.

What is your favourite part of the creative process?

It is that magic moment when I feel that “yes, this is it ! It is what I feel, what I want to convey!”. As every fine art photographer knows, finding and recognizing a nice scene at a given moment is only one part, the final photograph is something we create. Our artistic knowledge allows us to adapt the scene to represent what we felt rather than what we saw, what we imagined rather than what was recorded by the camera. Thus, I go beyond the captured image to add my artistic expression while keeping the scene realistic.

Can you give us an insight into current projects and inspiration, or what we can look forward to from you in the near future?

My future is made of series. Up to last year, I was mainly producing limited editions of single photographs for art galleries. Now, I produce more and more series of 15 to 20 photographs. From an artistic point of view, it is a different challenge and I love it. I designed two new products to present these series: a chic wooden portfolio and a chic wooden frame-box allowing one to change the displayed photo in less than one minute without tools. Both products are able to store a series, and everything is of archival quality. Series tell different stories and carry different emotions than single works of art.

Website http://yvanbedardphotoart.com

Instagram yvanbedardphotonature