I’m Jean-François Gosselin, a Montréal-based documentary and fine-art photographer whose work explores identity, dignity, social marginalization, and human connection.

Photography became my way back into the world. After living for many years with agoraphobia and long periods of isolation, working through a camera helped me slowly reconnect with public space and with other people. What began as a personal means of recovery gradually became an artistic practice rooted in encounter, trust, and lived experience.

My work developed first through street photography, where I learned to move through the city again and pay attention to gestures, expressions, and moments of connection that might otherwise disappear. Over time, my approach became increasingly intimate and collaborative, moving beyond observation toward work created directly with the people I photograph.

Through Their Eyes I Healed

My major documentary project, Through Their Eyes I Healed / À travers leurs yeux, j’ai guéri, was created in collaboration with more than forty people connected with Montréal’s Mission Old Brewery.

For each participant, I created a natural-light black-and-white portrait and then gave them a disposable camera with a simple invitation: photograph their world freely, through their own eyes.

The resulting work brings my portrait of each person into dialogue with the photographs they created themselves. Rather than documenting homelessness exclusively from the outside, the project gives participants space to become authors of their own images and experiences.

The project has also become inseparable from my own story. Through these encounters, photography evolved from a way of reconnecting with the outside world into a way of connecting deeply with others.

Exhibitions

À travers leurs yeux, j’ai guéri will be presented at the Maison de la culture Mercier in Montréal from November 13 to December 13, 2026.

A second exhibition will follow at the Maison de la culture de LaSalle from February 27 to April 1, 2027.

The exhibition combines large-format black-and-white portraits with colour photographs made by the participants themselves, emphasizing the dialogue between photographer and participant, observation and self-representation.

Book

Through Their Eyes I Healed / À travers leurs yeux, j’ai guéri is also being developed as a photographic book, with publication planned for 2027.

The book brings together my portraits and the photographs made by participants, with a foreword by acclaimed Québec author Kim Thúy.

100% of the profits from the book will be donated to the Mission Old Brewery, allowing the project to continue supporting the community from which it emerged.

Publications

My work will also be featured in photographer and author Jean Lauzon’s forthcoming book, Photographes québécois. Connus, inconnus et mal connus, which brings together photographers working across Québec.

In parallel with my documentary and fine-art practice, I work as a volunteer photographer and writer for Absolute Underground Magazine, documenting concerts, musicians, and festivals.

Concert photography has become another way for me to reach audiences beyond the traditional photography world and bring greater attention to my social documentary work.

Selected Portfolio Reviews & Recognition

Filter Photo — Chicago, 2024

Griffin Museum of Photography — New England Portfolio Reviews, 2025

CENTER Review Santa Fe — Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2026

World Press Photo Contest, 2026 — Through Their Eyes I Healed advanced past the first round of regional judging

These opportunities are part of a broader effort to develop the project beyond Québec, establish relationships with curators, publishers, editors and institutions, and build a sustainable international future for the work.

Professional Affiliations

CARFAC — Professional Artist Membership, Photography

Member of CARFAC, the national organization representing professional visual and media artists in Canada.

RAAV — Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec

Application for professional artist status submitted and currently under review by the eligibility committee.

BAnQ / ISNI

Registered with Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and assigned an International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) for my professional artistic practice.

Looking Forward

My goal is to continue developing collaborative documentary projects in other communities and countries, creating work that gives participants a meaningful role in how their own lives are represented.

For me, photography has become more than image-making. It is a way of meeting people, building trust, creating dialogue, and reconnecting with a world I once found difficult to enter.

Through Their Eyes I Healed grew from that journey, and my hope is to build upon it internationally while keeping human connection at the centre of the work.