Biography

Gilbert Duclos is a professional photographer since 1975 working with many publishing houses in Canada, United States and Europe.  In 1977, he took the first street picture for the series called «Cités». The image represents two white nuns walking in the streets of Montreal.

" Traveling the streets of the world’s major cities for a quarter of a century, Gilbert Duclos has created a singular universe where the represented figure appears more vivid in the photographer’s vision than in real life. Like Doisneau, Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank before him, Duclos’ street photography constitutes a powerful statement about the importance of artistic expression in the public sphere. Gilbert Duclos authored one of the world’s most important photographs Célèbre inconnue (Famous anonymous) The controversial reception to which brought him international attention in 1998."

From 1954 to 1961, his father was the General Manager of Montreal's Belmont Park. Every Sunday of the summer, Gilbert was taken to the amusement park by his mother so that he could see his father hard at work. 

The raucous, joyful and colourful crowd had a strong influence on the future vision of this burgeoning photographer. A few years later, at the age of 15, the Universal Exposition in Montreal added to his visual palette. He spent his entire summer on the islands. 

At 18, he decided to put his studies on hold and left for Paris. His time abroad was also punctuated by jaunts to Germany, England, Spain and Morocco.

Taking several jobs to help pay his way, he worked as a vélosolex courier in Paris, an upholsterer for his craftsmen friends and as a mover. He began taking photos in Paris using the Kodak Instamatic that had been given to him by his mother.

In his free time, he explored Paris and perfected the art of loitering on the city’s grand boulevards and terraces. The time he spent in Paris played a key role in his approach to street photography.

 Following studies at the Cégep du Vieux-Montréal in photography, Gilbert Duclos worked with several magazines both at home and abroad. He has also worked with many cultural, educational and business institutions and has directed several articles and portraits of personalities including Anne Hébert, Denis Villeneuve, Marie Chouinard, Prince, Denys Arcand.

Over the course of his career, Gilbert Duclos has received several awards and distinctions.  


La rue, zone interdite - Off limits

This documentary delves into the subject of photography and how the dominant values of our era influenced the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision of April 9, 1988. This ruling (Court File No. 25579) severely limits photographers from documenting public spaces—an activity that has been pursued by the greatest photographers since the beginning of the art form.

Is the street a public or private space? Do photographers still have a right to take photographs? These are the debates pursued by the documentary. Director Gilbert Duclos is concerned about this perversion of our right to free expression and the subsequent withering of our visual heritage. What images will there be of the 2000s if the descendants of Cartier-Bresson no longer dare to practice their craft for fear of litigation? 

The documentary was filmed in 2004 in Canada, the United States and France and features photographers William Klein, Marc Riboud, Elliott Erwitt, Janine Niepce who give their opinions on the subject. Also featured in the debate are lawyers, editors and journalists who share their concern regarding this cultural shift in attitude.

Director:

In 2004, Monique Simard of Productions Virage approached him as a photographer to direct a documentary on the rights of images and artistic freedoms. He wrote the screenplay, prepared the shooting schedule and interviews and edited it himself. This project allowed him to familiarize himself with documentary work.  

Gilbert Duclos received the 2005 FIFA (Festival International des Films sur l’Art de Montréal) Best Documentary Award.


A Reflection on Street Photography 

Since Niepce’s invention in 1829, photographers have been invested in public areas. Nearly 200 years have passed and street photography remains as current as ever. Architecture, fashion and technology evolve and therefore, so do the streets. We never cease to witness new social codes in public spaces. The photography of an young tattooed woman on her smartphone is the perfect example of this evolution in action.  

The photographer Robert Doisneau was absolutely correct when he said that the street is “a theatre where your ticket is paid by biding one’s time”. This made me realize that, in part, the street is a permanent show to offer for everyone. The countless distance walked, the days spent wasting time, are what keep us poised to witness decisive moments.

Photographing the unpredictability of urban life as it passes before us, is something we have no control over and it is no simple task. It is crucial to seize the moment, to decide when to pull the trigger, just at the right moment and create an image that, ideally, reflects your signature style while retaining risk and unpredictability as the composition. I like images that tell a story or that suggest one. Each photograph must tell its own tale and not depend on other images to be understood. With this as my premise, I bear subjective witness on my contemporaries and allow myself to be entertained by the theatre of the streets. New realities are explored, slowly but surely, using the present as my photographic landscape. The arrival of digital technology and smartphones has encouraged the democratization and dissemination of images over the Internet and over social networks, has changed the game. The constant flow of photographs has exploded to such an extent that it has trivialized the image. The days when there were only a few hundred photographers haunting the streets of major cities are now gone. Another thorny issue is the question of “who owns the right to the image” which is putting the art of street photography at risk in many countries, including my own. In 1988, I was convicted at the Supreme Court of Canada. (Célèbre inconnue, Montreal 1987)

It is essential that photographers and cultural heads band together to defend the rights of photographers in public spaces. In 2005, I made a documentary film called “La rue zone interdite, The Street Off Limit” which addressed this issue. See in the movie section.

In addition to that, artificial intelligence is a new threat hanging on the horizon. Already many fake photographs are circulating around the social media… And the use of silver film also makes it possible to counteract this trend by making it possible to identify an image in a formal way.

I have been a street photographer since the early 1970s. I fully understand that discretion is vital, so I decided to use one of the smallest manual cameras available—the Rollei 35s. Simple and efficient, it comes with a retractable 40mm f/3.5 lens, no viewfinder and one roller wheel to adjust the speed and another for the shutter. Operating speed is a major asset for this model and I opted for vertical housing to save precious time when handling the camera. To avoid a granular effect on the image, I chose to use 125 asa film.

I still use the same camera to this day and I take the same approach to my photographs to preserve my signature style despite the time and places that separate them.

Gilbert Duclos,
Montreal, 2023