ARTISTS & The Montreal Comix Scene

In 1983, when I came to Montreal to study film and photography, little did I know that I'd get myself involved with the comics community and never look back.

In those days, Quebec was still feeling the post-depression syndrome of the loss by French separatist during the 1980 referendum aiming to give independence to Quebec from the rest of Canada. Since then political instability coupled with separatist parties in and out of office kept the economy down. If making lots of dough is NOT your main objective in life, Montreal is one of the most beautiful places in the world to live. But here, you could be doing art, music or comics for twenty years and you'd still be as poor as the new guy or gal arriving in town full of hope. The economic realities of the scene, levels and bursts the inflated egos. Those who can't stand the poverty or the lack of recognition either move on or go crazy (and I mean that literally). Those that stayed have a real love and passion for the possibilities of narrative art. They're not interested in a fling; they're willing to commit until the end.

To make ends meet these gentlemen and ladies are all either, musicians, makeup artists, graphic artists, booksellers, teachers or photographers. This is key to understanding how the Montreal comix scene has survived and thrived over the last twenty years; having a life outside of comics renews and recharges the creative juices. Of course, there is always hope that a small living will be earned out of comics. Most know that might never happen and are content with drawing a few pages every year.

In the past, Montreal has proven that a lack of comix publishers was an asset, forcing writers and artists to self-publish. The Montreal scene is not the school of one thought, Montreal is the school that celebrates diversity and unites solitudes. Because this is the only true bilingual city in Canada, each culture has their newspapers, television stations and radios. The end result is an incredible thriving cultural scene perpetually trying to burst out of its boundaries.

As a photographer, a comix writer and ex-publisher, I have taken a lot of portraits of Montreal artists and still continue today. This is a selection of my best. I have also worked many years for Guy Sprung's infinitheatre in Montreal. Guy Sprung is a maverick artistic director who gave me the oppurtunity to meet and photograph amazing actors, writers and playrights and to accompany him in 2001 to Cairo in Egypt to do a photo reportage on Beckett's Endgame he directed during the 13th Cairo International Festival For Experimental Theatre.