Michel Huneault (Quebec, b.1976) started doing photography while working in international development and peace building settings for over more then a decade, including one full in Kandahar. In 2004, he was lucky enough to be apprentice and assistant for Gilles Peress, Magnum Photo, in New York City. Starting 2008, he became fully dedicated to photography and started to produce various magazine assignments various international issues and events, and has been collaborating with international non-profit organizations on documenting their field work.
Since 2010, he has focused increasingly on personal projects and exhibitions, a work that continues to be published in traditional medias outlets. His long-term work looks at contemporary social issues linked to development, migration, complicated geography, and peace (or war). Also increasingly, he partners with researchers and experts for greater synergy and impact on his projects.
Lately, he additionally started to create transmedia short documentary films. "Lavoie sans frontières" - a 30 minutes feature film on migration mixing photos, videos and sounds - on which he acted as co-director and as director of photography, was first aired on public television in Canada in January 2014.
Michel's photography work is represented by Cosmos Photo (Paris) and Polaris Images (New York). He lives in Montreal.
The CONTACT Gallery is pleased to present La longue nuit de Mégantic, an exhibition by Montreal-based photographer Michel Huneault.
La longue nuit de Mégantic is the culmination of the documentary photographer's year-long project visiting Lac-Mégantic after Canada's deadliest train disaster in almost 150 years. In the middle of the night on July 6, 2013 a train filled with crude oil derailed in the small Quebec town creating an explosion that destroyed much of the downtown area, instantly killing 47 people.
The disaster has since been in the forefront of current national debates regarding energy transportation, safety and the environment. However, Huneault's interest in this story is human and intimate, with a focus on the community and the aftershock. His experience in internationa...