Artist Statement

The photographic practice of Frank Desgagnés is coloured by his film studies; his frequently staged images, along with their aura of mystery, lend his work a nuanced narrative sensibility. A common thread runs through his projects: the notion of identity is subtly woven throughout, a quest for personal meaning within larger narratives. The images of Frank Desgagnés often embrace several timeframes, reflecting the passage of time while operating in aesthetics, compositions and themes that scramble the codes and appear anachronistic. These temporal superimpositions within the same space give an impression of both presence and absence: the presence of the elements of the photograph, and the absence of what once was—a subtle evocation of the memories of a site, of the memories of its protagonists. Whether it be through the exposure time itself, the use of expired film or the presence of individuals that seem to belong to another time and space, the photographs of Frank Desgagnés employ the codes of visual language, at once subverting and recasting them.