Biography

The Canadian photographer Kourtney Roy was born in Northern Ontario in 1981. Intrigued by the possibility of creating a tragic mythology of the self, she conjures an intimate universe pervaded by both wonder and mystery. Her photographer’s eye is drawn to places and settings whose lyrical qualities underscore the sublime banality of everyday life.
           
           Roy’s studies in photography, at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver and later at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, inspired her to develop her finicky aesthetic, which lends itself particularly well to glossy paper. Partial to self-portraiture and artifice, Roy puts herself in the frame, most often alone, entering into and off-kilter relationship with her surroundings, one that is infused with fantasy. The characters she portrays are sad and impassive, locked into and ordinary existence that seems to recall times long gone by. In their composition, these images are reminiscent of wide-open and irreal spaces or cinematic backdrops, punctuated by the occasional pop culture reference. A shiny world, but shot through with fissures owing to the photographic fondness for not taking oneself too seriously. Instilled with a dark sense of humor, taking their clues as much from the grotesque nature of seemingly placid settings as from the tensions simmering just under the surface, her photographs have garnered many prizes, including the Prix Picto in 2007, The Emily Award in Canada in 2012 and the Prix Carte Blanche PMU/Le Bal in 2013. In 2014 Roy was nominated for the Prix de l'Elysée awarded by the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne.
           
          Roy’s work has been exhibited widely in France, but also abroad. She has been seen at the Planche(s) Contact Festival in Deauville in 2012, The Portraits Festival in Vichy in 2015 and  at Le Bal in 2014, among other events and venues. Internationally Roy’s photographs have been featured at exhibitions in China (at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai as part of the Lady Dior exhibition in 2011) as well as Italy, Switzerland, Australia (at the Head on Photo Festival in Sydney in 2013) and at the Moscow Photo Biennale in 2017.
           
           Roy has also released several publications on her work including an accompanying catalogue to Le Bal’s exhibition “Ils pensent déjà que je suis folle” and an artist’s book “Enter as Fiction”, both published by Filigrane Editions as well as  “Northern Noir”, a dark, crime scene inspired series shot in Canada published by Editions La Pionnière. Her latest book, entitled “California”, is edited by Editions Louis Vuitton.

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