Lac-Mégantic : Info

Le 6 juillet 2013, à 1:15 am, 47 résidents de Lac-Mégantic sont morts presqu'instantanément après qu'un train transportant du pétrole de schiste ait déraillé et explosé au centre-ville. Pour une communauté de 6000 personnes, c'est 1 personne sur 128 qui fut tuée ce soir là. Je suis arrivé à Mégantic le soir du même 6 juillet. Depuis, je continue à travailler avec la communauté pour documenter l'évolution de l'impact de la tragédie sur la population et sur l'environnement à travers le temps, et en différents chapitres de travail.

On July 6, 2013, at 1:15 am, 47 residents of Lac-Mégantic died after a shale oil filled train derailed and exploded in the middle of the small city. For a community of about 6000 souls, it meant 1 out of every 128 residents were taken out that night. I arrived in Lac-Mégantic on the evening of July 6 and have since documenting the evolving impact of the tragedy on the environment and the population over time, and in different work chapters..

La longue nuit (2013-2014)

La longue nuit porte sur l'évolution du deuil et du traumatisme vécus à Lac-Mégantic, vu sous l'angle de la nuit, moment de la journée où l'incident revenait hanter un large nombre des Méganticois que j'ai rencontrés. La longue nuit est aussi à propos de l'obscurité informationnelle dans laquelle les résident ont évolué au courant de la première année, alors que les autorités limitaient strictement l'accès au site et l'accès à l'information. Après 14 visites et 70 jours de terrain en 12 mois, un an symbolique d'accompagnement dans le deuil a été bouclé.

La longue nuit is about the trauma and mourning lived in Lac-Mégantic, evolving over time and as seen through the angle of the night, a time of the day at which the incident keeps haunting back a large number of Méganticois I met. La longue nuit is also about the informational darkness in which the residents had to evolve with over the first year, as authorities were carefully limiting access to the site and to information. After 14 visits and 70 days on the ground across 12 months, one symbolic year of mourning accompaniment has been completed

"I was sleeping fully dressed when it happened. I was woken up and went outside. It might sound funny now, but my first reaction was to call 911 from the phone booth next door. I can still see the fire and feel the oily rain that poured on my skin that night. My flat is intact, but located in the red zone, so it is now closed for at least a year." - P.

"47 dead. When you think about it, this is the first mass murder by shale oil attack, worldwide." - Y.

Contamination + Addiction (2013)

Contamination + Addiction, par son visuel hypnotique capté pendant les cinq mois s ayant suivis l'incident, s'attarde aux impacts du déversement de pétrole de schiste sur la rivière Chaudière. Ce travail sert à la fois d'indéniable document factuel du déversement de plus de 5 millions de litres de pétrole brut échappés dans la nature ce jour là, ainsi que d'outil de réflexion à propos des risques de notre dépendance contemporaine — voire envoûtement — au pétrole, qu'il proviennent de fracturation hydraulique ou non.

Contamination + Addiction looks at the shale oil spills impacts on Chaudière River, through hypnotic visuals captured in the five months following the July 6 incident. The work serves as a factual testimony of the estimated 5 millions liters of crude oil spilled that day, as well as a reflection tool about the larger risks of our contemporary attraction and addiction to oil, would it come from fracking or not.

"I have so much rage inside. I am angry at this criminal act, at the lack of information about its impacts and the future. I am not sure what to do with it, but I want my rage to be useful, I want the population to realize this was not an innocent accident, we are all culprits, our oil-based society is, corporations are." - P.

Le mur | The Fence (2013)

Effectué lors des semaines ayant suivi le 6 juillet, ce panorama composite présente la clôture de sécurité qui sépare les Méganticois de la zone rouge, un mur là pour rester dont la forme et la couleur évoluent presqu'à chaque semaine.

Done in the weeks following July 6, this composite panorama captures a now permanent fixture of Mégantic, a fenced perimeter evolving and changing in shape almost every day.

"I could have kept living in my flat, but I was facing the epicenter of the catastrophe, with the constant noise, light and smell of the cleaning work going on. It was a continuous nightmare. I chose a calm and peaceful city that was criminally bombed by a 70 carriage-long train on that night. So I decided to escape and went away for the summ er." -Y.

L'épicentre | The Epicenter (2013)

Alors qu'il devenait évident que ni les citoyens ni les journalistes n'auraient accès au site de l'incident pendant plusieurs mois sinon années, car interdit par les autorités, on me demanda d'effectuer un Gigapan pour saisir l'ampleur de la zone rouge. Le résultat interactif, constitués de 132 photographies assemblées, présente l'état du centre-ville au 13 août 2013.

As it became clear that neither civilians or journalists would get free access to the incident site for a long while (up to a year), I was asked to do a Gigapan of the red zone. The interactive result captured the state of downtown Mégantic as of August 13, 2013. It is made of 132 different photos stitched together.

"I was playing drums that night in my blacked out basement, along with a friend who was on the djembe. Really, we didn't hear anything and we went out about 45 minutes after the explosion and saw the insane fire, then we ran away. I knew most people who died in that fire, even if not personally. In a small place like this, you know everyone." - G.

Échos | Echoes (Video, 2015)

Livre | Book (2016)

Les nouveaux souvenirs (photo + video, 2014-2016)