Diversity

Introduction

• Initial aim: capture the diversity of Montreal

• Method: using photography and writing as media to represent it

• Outcome: 16 photos

I was walking in downtown Montreal during class, when suddenly a lady struck me. She was sitting on a bench in a public square reading in such a concentrated way that I took advantage of the situation and carefully took a picture of her. I didn´t want to invade her space. At least she did not realize that I was there.

Through her body language, I realized how people in Montreal seem so carefree. For me, that lady did not seem to notice anything around her. She even took her shoes off for a while . Diversity is a part of our lives; it is present in our behaviour. Images can show not only the variety of our cities but also their unique personalities.

¨I have the years required to scream what I think, to do what I want, to recognize old mistakes,

to rectify my ways and treasure my successes¨

José Saramago, Nobel Prize in Literature 1998

“Old age starts when you lose your curiosity….”José Saramago

Since I´ve started to take pictures in this class, my perspective has changed. I now see evenmore clearly that people´s different emotions and energies can be transmitted through thelens of the camera. Intense colors, body movements, rhythms and culture blend to portrayshapes through hand gestures and body language that convey poetry through.

3 women

2 continents

1 common goal : be able to have discussions with anybody in the world

With sepia, differences tend to disappear…

Sepia: reddish-brown color named afterthe rich brown pigment derived from theink sac of the common cuttlefish Sepia

Colors give a strength to this photo. Thanks to the contrast, we can imagine many storiesabout the man’s life in the picture: his past, his current life, his feelings. It seems that thecolors can illustrate all these aspects (a fulfilling life, happy and memorable memories,numerous events that guided his personal life…).

In my opinion, black & white is the best way to give more consistency to a picture.It makes me think about their personal stories and imagine what their lives are like in theirhome countries, why they came to Montreal and how they feel about the cultural diversity inthe city…

Airi is a Japanese student at the YMCA International LanguageSchool. She is quiet but always has a smile on her face. Everyafternoon she enjoys walking with her friends; she likes wearingyellow, blue and black. Before dying, she would like to be wealthy.

In the shadows, passing the time; waiting for good luck, he is like a leaf going where the wind blows.

Although my classmate Ricardo always says he's becoming less Mexican with time, he is anauthentic Mexican guy. He has been in Montreal for three years. When I'm next to him, he alwaystells me about his memories of the beach where he was born, his family, his house and the warmwinters. Now he wants to enjoy Montreal, meet a lot of new friends and learn to speak French andEnglish without a Mexican accent.

Larissa Lira comes from Brazil. She is beautiful and charismatic. Although she thinks all the timeabout her Brazilian friends and her friends always think about her, now she has friends from aroundthe world. When she goes back to Brazil, she is going to have more people thinking about her fromdifferent parts of the world.

She is a womanShe wears sunglassesShe uses a nice, modern purseShe looks like a modelShe is tallShe wears a pink burkaShe walks in the streetShe is happyShe is a Muslim woman

AUTONOMY

FREEDOM

HUMAN RIGHTS

McGill students:

Building Futures + Sharing Dreams

“Recreate your life, always, always…” Cora Coralina

Time for Relaxing

As a conclusion…

2 main challenges:

• Run a project without clear objectives at the beginning & compromise all along the project

• Capture images of strangers

What we learned

THANK YOU!