The Convent Series

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Caption: Les Soeurs Adoratrices du Précieux-Sang Le jardin/The Garden Nicolet 1995 épreuve par procédé chromogéne

Since the early 1990s, Montreal photographer Clara Gutsche has photographed nuns belonging to about twenty-five contemplative orders. The photographs (black-and-white and colour) document, with a warm and empathetic precision, a feminine world of devotion. The instrument that crosses the threshold of these convents is just a camera. The vision behind it, however, is that of an artist motivated by a keen sense of history and the social relationships that fuel it. At the heart of Clara Gutsche's photographs are the visual constructions the artist is recording, and which express a relationship to the world that characterizes monastic life. By weaving herself as a photographer, woman and artist, into a social and spiritual fabric, Clara Gutsche allows us to encounter realities to which she imparts unprecedented presence. Clara Gutsche: The Convent Series was organized by Musée d'art de Joliette, Québec. The national tour has been funded by The Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, and the National Bank of Canada.