Robert Bourdeau

Born in Canada in 1931, self-taught photographer Robert Bourdeau dedicated himself to refining his own personal aesthetic carving out a venerated place amongst those at the top of the international art scene.

After meeting, and being greatly inspired by, photographer Minor White, Bourdeau elevated his passion for photography by way of finding the energies in any given place and capturing them via film, a technique that would lend both mystery and vulnerability to his work. Drawn to photographing places of an ominous and transitory nature, Bourdeau chose to highlight the "darkness beyond secrets", and became known for transcending the foreboding commentary of a place found both outside and within, to affect the perpetual notions of chaos found in the world.

In the 1980s, Bourdeau began a teaching career throughout Canada and the US that would continue for 14 years. He continued to exhibit extensively with his photographs being included in some of the most prestigious institutions such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Library and Archives Canada and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography amongst others. In 2011, Robert Bourdeau was awarded the Order of Canada.