[Winter 2026]
An Affective Typology of Photographic Knowledge
by Mona Hakim
[EXCERPT]
For many years, Michel Campeau has been conducting obsessive investigations on darkrooms and frenetically collecting vernacular images, consolidating the role of photographer-collector that we have come to know him for. His path has gradually distanced him from photography in the field and technical processes related to silver photography, giving rise to production – of books and exhibitions – as prolific as it is stunning and bold. This stance, which has informed his reflections on the medium’s past and future since the advent of digital technology and on the foundations of his own practice, has also piqued keen interest from theorists of photography, prompting them to take stock of the material culture of the image through the many facets of its history. In 2018, the exhibition Michel Campeau: Life Before Digital offered vertiginous confirmation of his infatuation with archival and other “found” images. Their accumulation and multiple forms of deployment on a museum’s walls appeared then to be the final result of his long and patient work on his subjects of predilection.
[…]
[ Complete issue, in print and digital version, available here: Ciel variable 131 – Collecting ]
[ Complete article in digital version available here: An Affective Typology of Photographic Knowledge]
Born in Montreal, where he lives and works, Michel Campeau is interested in the aesthetic and conceptual heritage passed down by the material culture of silver photography. He surveys five decades of contemporary photography, and his works are in numerous collections in Canada and internationally. He has received the Jean-Paul-Riopelle Career Grant awarded by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Duke and Duchess of York Prize awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts. He is represented by Simon Blais (Montréal) and Éric Dupont (Paris) galleries.
www.michelcampeauphotographies.com
Mona Hakim is a curator and art historian and critic. The author of essays and reviews, she has contributed to Ciel variable for many years. She is interested in various issues related to contemporary photography, with a focus on the Quebec scene. As a curator, she has organized more than twenty-five exhibitions.