Festival Art Souterrain

Jeanne Castonguay-Carrière’s photography research sits at the intersection of documentary and vernacular photography. It expresses the doubts and questions that shape her understanding of the world. Drawing from her experiences as a mother and her identity as a woman, her work delves into themes of family, the environment, and community.

In her series Maison de paille, which she began in 2020, she examines the environmental legacy left for future generations through images of her everyday family life. Adapted for public display, this work reveals intimate moments and children’s interactions with their surroundings. It addresses eco-anxiety and the burden of ecological knowledge that children carry from an early age in the face of a planet in decline. The title “Maison de paille” [ House of Straw ] references the well-known story The Three Little Pigs, which is based on oral tradition. In this story, the straw house symbolizes vulnerability in the face of danger.

Castonguay-Carrière is an emerging artist from Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang / Montreal living in Longueuil. She earned a BA in Communications, focusing on Cultural and Media Production Strategies, from UQAM (2015). After working in arts, film, and communications for several years, she transitioned into photography in 2019. She studied photography at Collège Marsan (Montreal), where she received the M5 Prize for Excellence, leading to her participation in the exhibition Les Meilleurs talents de Marsan at the McCord Stewart Museum in 2022. Her commercial and artistic projects have been featured in various publications and group exhibitions in Montreal. In 2023, she received a creative grant from the Conseil des arts de Longueuil to continue her series Chez Lise, which takes place in an iconic Longueuil rooming house. She joined the photographers’ collective Hors d’État in 2024.