‘Erik & April’ 2009 Original Photograph Tony Fouhse, Ottawa, Canada
Tony Fouhse, ‘Erik & April’ Photo Series, Photograph, 16 x 16 inches, 2009, Open Edition. Initials “T.F.” on verso.
Print $450.
Statement: ERIK & APRIL
Photo Series by Tony Fouhse in collaboration with & exhibited @ La Petite Mort Gallery
‘We are all voyeurs. Who hasn’t wanted to watch someone else in the act? Let’s be honest. To have permission, or doing so without their knowledge… both can be incredibly stimulating, especially with the chance of getting caught. Photographer Tony Fouhse invites us in the bedroom of April & Erik, a couple who let us catch them in the privacy of their bedroom, and to share their rawness, their passion, and their beauty.
Erik & April were my own discovery & infatuation. I had an ongoing sexual & extremely voyeuristic relationship with the pair, which was more addictive, for myself, than any drug I’d ever ingested in the past. I watched them, touched them, kissed them, tasted them and photographed them fucking. I shared these images with Fouhse (with the couple’s permission) who in term re-interpreted the scenario, in what some called “Perfume Ads”, but I see them as intimate as what I experienced, but at another level’ – Guy Berube, 2009
Artist Statement:
APRIL + ERIK: LOVE SHOTS
April and Erik invited me and my camera into their bedroom.
As usual, there was no plan. I just wanted to see what would happen, what the photographs would look like.
I had no expectations. Even though my photography is very much about directing, I’ve learned that situations and dynamics always take on a life of their own. For me, photography is still about discovery.
I thought I’d be photographing sex. What I discovered was love. Not the holding-hands-while-walking-into-the-sunset kind of love.
April and Erik’s love is more real than that.
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I would like to thank April and Erik for their generosity, their openness and honesty. And, most of all, for their love.
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TONY FOUHSE, Ottawa, Canada
BORN: Ottawa, 1954
EDUCATION: Hillcrest High School
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2013
LIVE THROUGH THIS, Carleton University Art gallery, Ottawa
LIVE THROUGH THIS, ViewPoint Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia
2012
ANGELENOS, La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa
2011
USER 2010, La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa
2010
I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I, Karsh Masson Gallery, Ottawa
AMERICAN STATES, Exposure Gallery, Ottawa
USER, Pikto Gallery, Toronto (featured CONTACT exhibition)
USER 2010, La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa
2009
APRIL + ERIK , Gallery La Petite Mort, Ottawa
USER, IPS Gallery, Montreal
2008
BESIDE THE PASSAIC, La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa
2006
THERE, Gallery 101, Ottawa
2004
CALIFORNIA, Galerie La Bouchon, Paris
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2013
CRITICAL MASS (touring), Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia and The
Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, Florida
HEART of the MOMENT: works from the permanent collection, Ottawa Art Gallery
APPLIED, Exposure Gallery, Ottawa
2012
THE PRESENT, Oz Studio, Toronto
CLOSE TO HOME, recent acquisitions, City Hall Art Gallery, Ottawa
2011
HUMANKIND, Powerhouse Gallery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
PLACE AND CIRCUMSTANCE, City Hall Art Gallery, Ottawa
2010
NUDES, Abnorma Gallery, Poznan, Poland
EVOCATIVE OBJECTS, The Bytown Museum, Ottawa
2009
SNAP ’09, The Edward Day Gallery, Toronto
2008
EVIDENCE, City Hall Art Gallery, Ottawa
HOLGAWORLD, PhotoMedia Center, Erie, Pennsylvania
2004
THE WORLD, Angel City Gallery, Los Angeles
ROCK THE VOTE, SAW Gallery, Ottawa
BOOKS
LIVE THROUGH THIS, published 2012 by STRAYLIGHT Press
COLLECTIONS
The National Photo Collection, Belgium (2 USER images on display)
Canada Council Art Bank
City of Ottawa Art Collection
The Ottawa Art Gallery Collection
Archives of Ontario
The National Photo Collection, Canada
Private collections
PUBLISHED (Features)
American Photography magazine, October 2013 (Live Through This)
TIME Magazine, LightBox, July 30, 2013 (Live Through This)
New York Times LENS blog, June 11, 2013 (Official Ottawa)
American Photography 28, 2012
British Journal of Photography, November, 2011 (article on collaborative portraits, LIVE THROUGH THIS)
Esquire Magazine (Russia), November, 2011 (15 USER photos)
CV PHOTO, SUMMER, 2011 (10 page spread on USER)
American Photography 27 (2011)
American Photography 26 (2010)
The New York Times (USER, July 22, 2009)
Fade, The Netherlands (2009)
Vie des Arts (2008)
Newsweek Japan, 2008 (6 page spread on USER)
LifeLounge, Australia, 2008 (6 page spread on USER)
Carte Blanche, Magenta Foundation for the Arts, 2006
Many newspaper articles and reviews.
GRANTS
Canada Council Travel Grant (2013)
OAC Exhibition Grants (2010, 2009, 2013)
City of Ottawa Arts Grant (2010, 2012)
Recipient of THE KARSH AWARD for PHOTOGRAPHY, 2010
SOME LINKS
New York Times: Official Ottawa
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/official-ottawa-an-unofficial-portrait/
TIME magazine: Live Through This
http://lightbox.time.com/2013/07/30/live-through-this-documenting-one-womans-struggle-with-heroin
New York Times: USER
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/showcase-25/
LPV magazine: Live Through This
http://lpvmagazine.com/2013/04/live-through-this-by-tony-fouhse-stephanie-macdonald/
CV Photo (précis of feature on USER)
http://cielvariable.ca/recent/88/88fouhse.htm
Ottawa Citizen: USER
http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2011/09/23/tony-fouhse-hangs-user-one-final-time/
Ottawa Citizen: Karsh Award
http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2010/09/18/portraits-of-tony-fouhse/