Photography talent in Ottawa is growing massively, but stalwart Tony Fouhse regularly trumps most of his peers with exceptional commercial projects and personal work that compels through its stark simplicity and the hard labour that you can see has gone into every image.
Fouhse exhibits again beginning Thursday, March 4 at Exposure Gallery (above Thyme & Again at 1255 Wellington) with American States, an exciting selection from the photographic road trips he frequently takes south of the border. Thursday’s vernissage begins at 6:30 p.m.
Guerilla first chronicled one of Fouhse’s U.S. trips way back in 2004 (“Capturing Americans,” Guerilla #2), but the Ottawa native has since collected several more U.S. immigration stamps in his passport. Here’s a conversation I had with him on the topic.
Guerilla: How many trips to the States have you done and to what parts?
Fouhse: California twice, Mississippi + Alabama, Ohio, New Jersey and, finally, Arkansas. That'd make 6 trips.
You've said Americans are generally very approachable and willing to be photographed. Why else do you go there on these road trips?
I find the USA sexy. And, like I say in my statement, it's like taking 1/4 hit of acid. I think, too, that there's something to be said for going "away" to shoot. Even the USER work [portraits of crack addicts], shot in Ottawa, is kind of like going "away." There are photographers who work close to home, in every sense of that word, who are doing good, important work. Think of Justin Wonnacott's series on Somerset Street. I'm the kind of guy, though, who likes to get away.
What have the trips taught you about American society? People? Geography?
What I find most interesting, meeting and working with average Americans at a grass-roots level, is how as individuals they are open, hospitable and not afraid. But American society, taken as a group, and their body politic, seems the opposite. Closed, xenophobic and paranoid. I love and embrace contradictions.
How many photos in the show?
There are 31 images. They were selected from over 300 shots I've printed from these trips.
How did the show come about?
When Carrie Colton, the curator at Exposure Gallery, asked me if I'd be interested in showing some work there, well, I jumped at the chance. I saw it as an excuse to throw all my American shooting into a big pile, stir it up and see what came out. You see, before this opportunity, each trip yielded a portfolio, but each portfolio was a stand-alone thing. Having the chance to mash all that work together and make a broader (but also more focused) statement was too sweet to pass up.
Are you going to continue to shoot personal projects in the States? Any locations in mind?
Yes, I will. Los Angeles, baby.
