Henri Robideau

Henri Robideau (b. 1946) is a photographer and cultural narrator whose practice is grounded in history and animated by the events of our times. His life in photography spans nearly five decades, with the medium providing both his profession and his means of artistic expression, with his latter photographs often incorporating handwritten narrative text. He is best known for The Pancanadienne Gianthropological Survey, a two-decade record of eccentric Canadian landmarks; Flapjacks & Photographs, the biography of early British Columbia photographer Mattie Gunterman; and 500 Fun Years, the story of colonialism. Panoramic image collages, holographic text and narrative sequences are key characteristics of his work, which has been exhibited and collected nationally and internationally. Since 1979, Robideau has taught photography in Canadian universities, most recently at Emily Carr University, Vancouver. For the past thirty years his large format photographic skills have been in demand by Canada’s leading artists, whom he has assisted in the production of their work. He is currently exploring digital colour technology, alternative means of perpetual photographic presentation, and writing anecdotal stories about the ironic tragedy of human existence.