R Magazine, Ex-TeenArt_Issue 1_Authenticity Jun. 2015 | Page 70

Who is he? Alex Carignan is a 19-year-old photographer originally from Quebec. Born in Victoriaville, Alex moved in Montreal a year ago to study Films at Saint-Laurent CEGEP. This young man seriously started photography in November 2013, after having bought his first digital camera. He says that he mostly wanted that camera for its ability to produce stunning images and videos. His opinion on the black and white Some photos from Alex Carignan The Quay “Taken during an excursion out of our hostel, in a poor neighborhood in Cancún, Mexico. These structures seemed to be in perfect control of the moment, and I could not help but to capture their beauty.“ “What I like about photography is that it allows me to both convey my vision of the subjects I photograph and capture their beauty,” he says. “I love the black and white when well used because I think it forces us to see an image differently, putting aside the eventual distractions brought by colors. The black and white allows us to focus on the contrasts and the light.” Alex says not to love the black and white when used to cover up a mistake or for its “so-called artistic” value. For him, the use of black and white must be justified, and he affirms that he always shoots in black and white when he has the clear intentio n to show the photographs like that.