honorable mention
Martine Michaud canada
title
Women of the World
A tireless traveller, I am most interested in societies that have maintained their strong national culture despite globalization. I prefer slow traveling, usually alone, which gives me the time and the opportunity to meet the people I want to portrait and making them feel at ease in front of my camera. I try to catch that inner energy which irradiate from their gaze.
Among thousands of women portraits, I am specially proud of the photo of an old lady from Bhutan. It was in a corridor of the Tashi Chho Dzong, a Buddhist monastery and fortress in the capital of Thimphu. I was there in September 2013 at the same time as thousands of Bhutanese for the tsechu festival of masked and sacred dances, held annually in the large interior courtyard. Surprised at my request to photograph her, she said, “Why take my picture when there are so many beautiful girls around?” Then she had this smile of complicity.
Since 2007, she has mainly devoted herself to travel and studio, including portrait, documentary, photo book writing and abstract composites using her own photographic material. Her photos, signed Mishô, have regularly been on display to the public in several exhibitions, solo and group, in Montreal, Toronto and more recently in Europe.
She is an advocate for women’s rights and education rights for girls in the world. An accomplished writer, she is the author of two photo books: "Bhutan, Lotus&Dragon" (2014), and "Héritières de Bouddha (Buddha's Heiresses)" 2017, a photo-story relating her séjour as a volunteer yoga teacher at the Shechen Nuns Monastery in Bhutan where she was alloweed the take photos of their daily activities for her Nun's book project.
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entry description
I have been shooting women portraits in natural light and in their environment, either at work, resting, in markets, on the street or during festivities for many years.A tireless traveller, I am most interested in societies that have maintained their strong national culture despite globalization. I prefer slow traveling, usually alone, which gives me the time and the opportunity to meet the people I want to portrait and making them feel at ease in front of my camera. I try to catch that inner energy which irradiate from their gaze.
Among thousands of women portraits, I am specially proud of the photo of an old lady from Bhutan. It was in a corridor of the Tashi Chho Dzong, a Buddhist monastery and fortress in the capital of Thimphu. I was there in September 2013 at the same time as thousands of Bhutanese for the tsechu festival of masked and sacred dances, held annually in the large interior courtyard. Surprised at my request to photograph her, she said, “Why take my picture when there are so many beautiful girls around?” Then she had this smile of complicity.
about the photographer
Born in Canada, Martine Michaud lives and works in Montreal (Québec), Canada. She has been a keen photographer for many years. A tireless traveler, she has thus assembled a photographic body of work that includes thousands of images taken in various countries.Since 2007, she has mainly devoted herself to travel and studio, including portrait, documentary, photo book writing and abstract composites using her own photographic material. Her photos, signed Mishô, have regularly been on display to the public in several exhibitions, solo and group, in Montreal, Toronto and more recently in Europe.
She is an advocate for women’s rights and education rights for girls in the world. An accomplished writer, she is the author of two photo books: "Bhutan, Lotus&Dragon" (2014), and "Héritières de Bouddha (Buddha's Heiresses)" 2017, a photo-story relating her séjour as a volunteer yoga teacher at the Shechen Nuns Monastery in Bhutan where she was alloweed the take photos of their daily activities for her Nun's book project.
back to gallery